The Land Of Smiles 2

It’s a very interesting time in Thailand just now as the government having ‘sorted out’ the Red Shirts (UDD) by jailing many of their leaders has now turned its attention to the other side of the equation, the Yellow Shirts (PAD), with predictable results. Whereas the Reds had little pull with the Thai establishment the Yellows have a lot. I used to be convinced that the PAD was essentially a pressure group for the army and certainly whatever the PAD did the army would refuse to ‘interfere’ even when they invaded the National Security building and captured the staff and went on to close both Bangkok airports. However, things change and at the end of last year… “A Thai court has jailed 79 members of the "yellow shirt" movement over the invasion of a television station in 2008. They are the first convictions of members of the group, which also paralysed Bangkok's airports for several days.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12092906 This wasn’t a huge surprise as PAD has been unable to attract many people to its rallies recently and, quite amusingly for a so called Royalist group, it recently cancelled a rally saying that it would interfere with the celebrations for the King’s birthday - as if they hadn’t known when the celebrations were :O) So, what to do when you are a right-wing group losing its appeal? Well, always worth rolling out the old ‘call to patriotism’ that always stirs feelings and dulls brains. Now the verdict on the invasion of the TV station was due on the 28th but was postponed for a couple of days to enable all the accused to be present. The day after the postponement a group of seven Thai’s - including MP for Bangkok Panich Vikitsreth and a leading member of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), Veera Somkwamkid - was arrested for trespassing on Cambodian soil. “The group was arrested last Wednesday while inspecting a disputed border area near Ban Nong Jarn in Sa Kaeo's Khok Sung district. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court charged them on Thursday with encroaching on Cambodian territory and entering a military area. The Thai Patriots Network says the group was on Thai territory. It backs its claim with land documents and receipts of tax payments.” http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/214192/patriots-rally-to-demand-th... Curious, since the Thai government and even the group of seven themselves admit that they were over a kilometre into Cambodian territory. Still, no reason to let the truth get in the way of a nice bit of warmongering. Strange that the Bangkok Post didn’t mention that in the article, particularly since it had already posted this on New Year’s Eve… "... Arrested with Mr Panich were People's Alliance for Democracy co-leader Veera Somkwamkid, PAD activist Samdin Lertbutr, Tainae Mungmajon and three others identified only as Muay, Uan and Sab. The PAD is a pressure group which led protests against Cambodia over the ownership of the Preah Vihear temple on the disputed border. Assistant to the foreign minister Chavanond Intarakomalyasut said yesterday Thailand asked Cambodia to consider the case prudently as the seven Thais had no intention of encroaching on Cambodian territory. “Mr Chavanond said the two foreign ministers had examined evidence as well as the area where the Thais were arrested. It was found the seven Thais had strayed about 1,200 metres into Cambodian territory. It was clearly marked as a Cambodian area, he said" http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/213863/thais-held-in-cambodian-jail It seems that Veera has risen in the ranks since October 2009 when ‘PAD Denies Direct Link to Veera Somkwamkid’s Protest in Front of Cambodian Embassy’ Just found this article by Bangkok Pundit http://asiancorrespondent.com/author/bangkokpundit/ Which points out that Thailand is wont to shoot Cambodians who trespass on Thai soil! There is also more on the warmongering rhetoric from PAD and pals. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you read the earlier post about innocent people being shot dead and you think how distressing it must be for their relatives to wait, and wait, and wait, for any official verdict on the murder of their loved ones - then wonder how different it would have been if they had been PAD... “Thailand Patriot Network representatives on Saturday submitted a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, asking for justice, humanity and to respect the civil rights of seven Thais currently detained in Cambodia.” http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/214073/yellow-shirts-appeal-to-un

When wolves become shepherds Then sheep close their eyes! When truth becomes treason Justice withers and dies. Laws become twisted with excuses and lies The guilty laughing As innocence cries. “Two more cases from the 10 reports purported to be leaked from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) claim that soldiers were likely behind the deaths of two more bystanders during the April/May rally.” "The 10 allegedly leaked reports obtained by The Nation concluded that 13 of 16 fatalities investigated were likely caused by soldiers acting on duty. They urged police to investigate and courts to consider the cases in accordance with law." http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/Reports-link-two-more-civilian-deat... What really stings about these deaths is that there seems to be absolutely no reason for them. One man is paying his bill at the front of a restaurant and the other is a taxi driver watching soldiers shooting at a van. Despite testimony from the first man before he died, a collaborating forensic report and collaborating accounts from several witnesses the investigators concluded that the shooting was "likely to be that of a soldier" acting on duty... Duty to slaughter innocents? Predictably, the government refuse to confirm any leaks which contradict their ‘version’ of the truth. So far as I know the official government line is still that no-one was killed by their soldiers. This is an untenable position and it might well backfire on PM Abhisit if the reports are ever finally officially released. Regarding Wikileaks (not responsible for the leaks above)... Thai Foreign Ministry : We should not give credence to Wikileaks. (unless the cables criticise our enemies). Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said “What happens in Thailand, we tell the media and the people.“ Which is quite true. The govenment tells the media what is happening and they tell the people. Some say it is the same with the juduciary... the government tell them what the verdict is and they tell the people. Mind you with a, promised, upcoming election, things could change. Perhaps the new army chief will have his men singing a little election ditty… purely as a guide toward avoiding any accusations of voting irregularities. We had a coup But we did it for you. If you want a democracy Then here’s what to do Vote for the Democrats Make sure that they win Then you’ll get a PM We’ll allow to stay in... Well, Probably. ;O)

*** UPDATE *** The plot thickens... Abhisit today admitted that he sent Panich Vikritseth to inspect the disputed border between Thailand and Cambodia. However, far more interesting was the news of video footage posted to YouTube which implies that the PM had known the group were going into Cambodia... "Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva knew Democrat MP Panich Vikitsreth had intruded on Cambodian territory before Mr Panich and six other Thais were arrested by Cambodian soldiers, video footage posted on YouTube shows." "Please tell Somkiat to inform the prime minister that we are already inside Cambodia." http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/214312/clips-show-panich-in-cambodia Reading the comments below the story gives an idea of how angry people are getting at the unreliable nature of the official 'truth' in Thailand... hmmm, a lot more to this than meets the eye! Thanks to Bangkok Pundit I found this on the Asian Correspondent - It has the videos and a translation of the phone call into English… “Hello [name], are you there? Can you hear me clearly? In case we lose the signal here, call Somkiat, the PM’s secretary - because we’ll/I’ll will talk to him personally, anyways – tell Somkiat we’ve crossed the border into Cambodia, so we can coordinate it, in case something happens. Tell him – we’re now on Cambodian territory! But don’t let anyone else know about it, only the PM knows!“ http://asiancorrespondent.com/45248/videos-show-thai-activists-before-ar... My Thai friend suggests that the end might well be - “...only the Prime Minister IS to know.” A small, but possibly very important, difference!

Thai is a strange language and though the pronunciation of the English phonetic spelling of Thai words is usually quite close to the Thai there are plenty of exceptions - the main airport is pronounced something like ‘Suwanapoom’ yet its spelling is ‘Suvarnabhumi’. So I suppose that the general who is being accused of contacting a commander of the Cambodian border patrol, Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon/Wongsuwan, is simply another demonstration that the rules of phonetic translation are not set in stone. Here at the end of 2008 the Bankok Post has him as 'Wongsuwan': "The appointment of former army chief Gen Prawit Wongsuwan as defence minister has been welcomed by the top brass." "Gen Prawit is seen as getting the defence portfolio under the military's quota. He was Gen Anupong's respected boss and has close ties with the former members of the Council for National Security (CNS) who led the coup that ousted Thaksin Shinawatra and his government from power." http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/8536/top-brass-welcome-prawit's-assignment-as-defence-minister Here at the end of 2010 the Bangkok Post has him as ‘Wongsuwon’ explaining to his ‘boss’ about the seven arrests: 'Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon and armed forces commanders on Thursday morning had a serious discussion with Privy Council president Prem Tinsulanonda about the arrest of seven Thais by Cambodia for trespassing. Gen Prawit, who looked tense, said to reporters: "We are following up the matter and coordinating with Cambodia." In his speech to high-level military officers standing in lines at his Si Sao Theves residence, Gen Prem said "Today I will spreak briefly because Minister Pom (Gen Prawit Wongsuwon) and armed forces commanders still have many other things to do."' http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/213778/arrests-of-7-thais-worry-... Now, the reason I mention all this is that I am wondering if there is some similar confusion by the 'Patriot' who accused Gen Prawit of contacting a commander of the Cambodian Border Army to arrest the seven Thais... since it should have become very clear from the earlier links, at least to anyone who knows a little bit about Thai politics - that Gen Prawit is a right-wing Royalist. Why on Earth would someone who is so patriotic, that he recently warned that any members of the armed forces found to have posted anything on the internet that might be construed as unpatriotic would be instantly discharged, even consider arranging the arrest of Thai’s in Cambodia? An even more unlikely fiction that Thanong - a PAD leaning, pet journo at The Nation - seems to be hinting at via Twitter, is that it was all a plot to make ex-PM Thaksin look good by pulling strings with Cambodia to facilitate the release of the seven Thais. http://twitter.com/ThanongK “Chaiwat Sinsuwong, a core leader of Thailand Patriot Network, claimed on Monday that he had received information that Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon was behind the arrest of the seven Thais by Cambodian troops on Dec 29. He said Gen Prawit had contacted a Cambodian commander of a border army division, asking they arrest the Thais, who include a yellow-shirt network co-leader Veera Somkwamkid and a Democrat MP." http://asiancorrespondent.com/author/bangkokpundit/

It's tomorrow! It is interesting to note that the seven Thais will be examined individually at tomorrow’s trial… it is very likely that Veera will come off worst as he obviously didn’t learn his lesson the last time he was caught illegally entering Cambodia. Thaksin seems quite happy to leave things in the capable hands of the government. So, it looks like there will be no heroes riding to the rescue… ‘Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's legal adviser Noppadon Pattama said the government is doing its job poorly and slowly in helping the seven Thais being held in Cambodia. Mr Noppadon said he had talked with ousted premier Thaksin on the phone yesterday. Thaksin was aware of the situation and believed Mr Abhisit and Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya were capable of helping the arrested men. He said the former premier did not want to intervene in the issue as it was the duty of the government. "Thaksin said Thai-Cambodian relations have improved and the government should be able to solve the problem," he added.’ http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/214593/trial-of-arrested-thais-sta...

‘Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said that "Trespass without intent to violate Cambodian sovereignty will be the key defence of the seven Thais". He (also) said the Foreign Ministry would instruct the lawyers to base their defence on facts derived from video clips of the seven in the disputed area which have been widely seen in the media and on the internet.’ ‘The seven will need to admit they trespassed on Cambodian territory to a certain extent after ministry officials received information from the Thai military and the ministry's Department of Treaties and Legal Affairs, which sent inspection teams to the scene on Dec 31, and Cambodian authorities. According to the Foreign Ministry, the seven were arrested 55 metres behind the barbed wire delineation line.' 'Army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said Mr Panich's group was warned by military officers not to go beyond the delineation line.’ http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/214637/7-thais-will-plead-innocent... Were they ever over a kilometre into Cambodian territory or not? How did they get passed the barbed wire? Notice (below) that the PAD favouring Nation mentions a quote that the group had claimed they were on Thai soil when they were arrested. Not a lie but long since out of date - so why repeat it? Also the Nation represent Veera as an ‘activist’ whereas The Bangkok Post has him as the leader of the Thai Patriots Network - a splinter group of the People's Alliance for Democracy - which explains why the ‘Patriots’ are causing so much trouble on the Cambodian border. The seven Thais were accused of of illegal entry into Cambodian and also entering a military base without permission. "The group were quoted as saying that they were still on the Thai soil on the time of arrest while the Cambodian side which claimed otherwise. Unconfirmed reports said Veera an activist who was previously arrested and charged with the similar charges may be also charged with spying." http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011/01/06/national/Khmer-court-starts-h... Meanwhile : The UDD have refiled the petition for Democrat dissolution and have also invited the International Court of Justice to send representatives to the trial of the red shirts facing charges of terrorism in connection with the recent political upheaval.

Going back to the peculiar claim that Prawit arranged the arrests : “Chaiwat Sinsuwong, a core leader of Thailand Patriot Network, claimed on Monday that he had received information that Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon was behind the arrest of the seven Thais by Cambodian troops on Dec 29.” It seems even more curious when it is revealed that Prawit Wongsuwon, like Maj Gen Chamlong, is reportedly a devotee of Santi Asoke... Yet only as Prawit Wongsuwan ;O) “Since 2007 Santi Asoke monks have dressed in brown robes because the Supreme Council of the Sangha will not allow them to wear the traditional saffron robes. Santi Asoke is a very controversial sect of Thai Buddhism. It is a far-right and ultra-conservative group. They were founded by Phra Phothirak (Bodhirak), a former Thai rock star. The Supreme Council of the Sangha decided, during the Chatichai administration, to defrock Phra Phothirak. He conveniently dodged the defrocking by changing from saffron robes to white robes and no longer called himself a monk.” http://news.inbangkok.org/?p=2526 Santi Asoke and the Occupation of the Bangkok International Airport. Mahidol University International College, Thailand. "One of the PAD leaders, Major-General Chamlong Srimuang, is an active member of the Buddhist Santi Asoke group." "Known as the ‘Dharma Army’, hundreds of Santi Asoke monks, nuns and lay people participated in PAD demonstrations." http://www.seas.at/aseas/3_1/ASEAS_3_1_A3.pdf Interestingly, Chamlong Srimuang, recently described the PAD as a 'professional remover' of governments. "We have chased away three prime ministers. Driving out another one won't be so hard." So, maybe Prawit did arrange the arrests after all. Certainly Veera (a PAD co-leader?) sounded, on the video, as though he wanted the group to get arrested...

Despite rumours that PAD still dislikes Prawit because he defended his younger brother Patcharwas I still believe that Chaiwat Sinsuwong, a core leader of Thailand Patriot Network, had probably been left ‘out of the loop’ and so made the 'blunder' of accusing Prawit of arranging the arrest of the seven. I’m amazed more people haven’t realised that if Prawit was involved it would go a long way to explaining why the border guards were not present! It’s still difficult to try and guess the full role that Weera Somkwamkid - secretary general of People’s Network against Corruption, core member of the Thailand Patriot Network, leader of Preah Vihear Protectors and leading member of PAD - has played in all this but he has been behind Sondhi ever since Sondhi fell out with Thaksin. I’m sure Weera will prove to be a key player! As to why PAD would want to get rid of Abhisit… The interesting question is have Korn and Abhisit started to adopt very similar policies to ex PM Thaksin? Silly as it sounds, Abhisit is fast matching Thaksin’s popularity while at the same time promoting the same sort of capitalist ‘advances’ that PAD and pals see as exactly the things that will turn Thailand into the same corrupt, materialistic, hell that they thought Thaksin planned to bring. I have to admit that I have some sympathy with PAD's goals but I am certain that their methods will never achieve them and just what sort of Buddhism believes that the ends justify the means? Of course it could just all have been a ploy to generate a bit of warmongering to make the people grateful that Thailand has such a powerful army to defend it from the ‘land grabbing’ Cambodians… if so it went very, very wrong. Even if so, it still hasn’t stopped Prem from asking for 70 billion baht! “The armed forces' primary interest is the yearly budget allocation, which is quite large, especially after the Sept 19, 2006, coup. Since then the budget for the armed forces has increased every year and in terms of the country's GDP, it can be said the Thai armed forces gets the largest share of all armed forces in Asean and of course higher than any European Union country.” “Some money was used to buy an airship that cannot fly, fake hand-held bomb detectors, tanks with no engines, etc. Yet most is spent on modern weaponry to demonstrate their power to society.” “…it is increasingly hard for the armed forces to justify their expensive weaponry procurements as in the foreseeable future, there should not be any major wars spreading to Thailand. The armed forces will have to become more engaged in internal security, including narcotics and mob suppression, flood relief and trooping the colour. It is not easy for the armed forces chiefs to defend demands for new weapons because to defend their existing weapon stockpile and budget allocation is already exceedingly hard.” http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/215023/the-armed-forces-politics-a... ***UPDATE*** Army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-Ocha said regarding the Thai-Cambodian border problem… “If a land demarcation is clear and the other side encroaches upon our territory there will be shootings...” 'He also voiced concern over the lack of modern weapons and equipment saying that the country spent only 1.6 per cent of GDP on arms purchases which in his view was very little. "If you compare the number of soldiers we are stronger. But I ask what we should do since our equipment is more outdated."' http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011/01/10/national/Cambodian-border-nee... "Since 2006, the military budget has gone up from 86 billion baht to 170 billion baht, but we now have news of a proposal to spend another 70 billion baht (over a 10 year period) to set up a Cavalry Division which is a pet project of Privy Council president Prem Tinsulanonda." http://asiancorrespondent.com/author/bangkokpundit/

"The People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) on Sunday issued a statement calling on the government to force Cambodia to free seven detained Thais without any condition. PAD said in its statement that there are evidences showing that the seven Thais were arrested in Thailand’s territory. It condemned individuals who had told reporters that the Thais had entered into Cambodian territory." http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/215175/pad-thais-arrested-in-thai-... I noticed that the PAD are gathering at Baan Phra Athit today and I wondered at first whether it was outside ASTV or else at Prem's 'palace'... since Prem is the 'father of the army' I thought the PAD might be hoping to show him the 'evidence' against the 'condemned' - Prawit, Suthep and Kasit. I'm not sure of the relationship between PAD and Prem, although I have heard he favours them, and so I decided to do a bit of research. The only thing that really caught my interest was Ekayuth Anchanbutra. I tried googling him but all I found was "The coup attempt was supported by Ekayuth Anchanbutra, a businessman who had fled the country" “During April 1–3, 1981, a group of army colonels known as 'the Young Turks' launched a coup attempt in Bangkok. Prem escorted the King and Queen to Nakhon Ratchasima, and began negotiating with the coup leaders. Finally on April 3, major leaders agreed to end their April Fool's Day coup attempt. Some were allowed to take refuge abroad. Another coup attempt took place on September 9, 1985. Its leaders had been involved in the previous coup four years earlier. The attempt became violent when rebel soldiers firing at the government's information centers, killed an Australian journalist and his US soundman. The coup attempt was supported by Ekayuth Anchanbutra, a businessman who had fled the country after Prem's government issued new legislation against financial crime. By late afternoon of the same day, the rebels surrendered to the government. Most of its leaders, including Ekayuth, fled abroad.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prem_Tinsulanonda Then I found a post to a Bangkok Post article "Abhisit rules out reconciliation with terrorists" Discussion 10 : 14/06/2010 at 09:35 AM10 Following the footstep of 1980-1988? Like Ekayuth Anchanbutra, Thaksin is also booted out abroad. Perhaps, Abhisit have noted well from past history. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/38718/abhisit-rules-out-reconci... It fascinates me that someone who allegedly played such an important part in an attempted coup could be so easily forgotten and that so little information is available about him! Who was this ‘business man? Where did he go? Where is he now? Why did he do it? Why was he allowed to leave the country? Anybody reading this know any more about Ekayuth Anchanbutra???

Thinking about the great fuss surrounding the seven Thais I was going to write a quick sentence ot two saying what a huge fuss about nothing. With all the troubles in the world surely the fate of seven fools - who were stupid enough to go to the border without notifying anyone and then 'got lost' and found themselves in a foreign country with the chance of a few months in jail as a result - seems fairly trivial. However, I thought I’d better check for developments first and I found this : “Under the new charge, Veera Somkwamkid, a coordinator of the Thai Patriots Network, a splinter group of the yellow shirt People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), and Ratree Pipatanapaiboon, identified as Mr Veera's secretary, could face between five and 10 years in jail if found guilty.” (of an additional charge of espionage) http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/215402/court-slaps-2-thais-with-sp... Well, let’s face it these two wanted to be patriotic heroes and all the best ones have to spend a few years in jail - Ghandi, Mandela etc. The rest will probably get a stern reprimand and be sent home with their tails between their legs but with a nice tale to tell to the media and a few thousand baht from Sondhi L. The TPN will have its heroes. Santi Asoke will have succeeded in raising awareness of the need for a new Cambodian/Thai border agreement. PAD will have found something that may actually get people, who don’t require payment, to join their rally and the army will have found another excuse to ask for more money... Everyone should be happy then - except, perhaps, the 3 stooges ;O) Now I would be happy too if only someone could help me find out more about Ekayuth Anchanbutra. Come on people, somebody out there must know something!

It seems that, so far at least, the Thai army is the only one that seems to have got what it wanted without paying any obvious penalty… Colonel Thanathip Sawangsaeng spokesman for the Defence Ministry said : "The Cabinet had approved more than Bt500 million for military readiness to protect the border with Cambodia. The budget was allocated for an emergency situation, and was not a secret budget as reported by the media. The military would spend the money for logistics supplies to its mission to defend the border." http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011/01/13/national/Activists-vow-to-ram... Are we to assume then that they were not ready to protect the border before? Well, that would explain a lot!

‘Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has given the army the green light to conduct a military exercise near Preah Vihear temple to display its strength as Cambodia continues to lay claim to the disputed area.’… ’A senior army source who asked not to be named said yesterday the military exercise near the border was proposed by the army.’ ‘The nationalist People's Alliance for Democracy yesterday urged the government to use the country's stronger military capacity to gain leverage over the Cambodian government in its negotiations with Phnom Penh on disputed border areas.’ ‘”We must show our strength,” the source quoted the prime minister as saying in his recent meeting with Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon and Gen Prayuth.’ 'Mr Abhisit was also said to have agreed to allow the army to buy weapons it needed to handle the border situation.’ http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/218177/military-flexes-its-muscle However, Suthep said that the exercise near the temple was a rumour “we will not make the situation worse by doing that”. and that “the government, the army, the civil service want to resolve everything through dialogue. There is no need for any sort of a special military drill.” Meanwhile there is an alleged leak from a top ranking military source that the army are planning a coup. So what’s going on? The armed forces want a couple of submarines and a new Cavalry Division and of course more guns and other armaments but they did not have any good reason why they needed them or how they would benefit Thailand… Take an old border dispute and arrange for a group of PAD sympathisers including a member of the government to get caught trespassing on Cambodian land and then use the PAD and its allies to escalate the situation into a ‘crisis’ so that the army can say ‘Look, see how easy it is to get involved in a conflict with neighbouring countries! Lucky you have us to protect you… now give us the things that we might need to tip the balance in future conflicts!’ Now all you need are a few carefully worded 'leaks' to add extra pressure... ”We must show our strength,” the source quoted the prime minister as saying... hmmmmm, I wonder what came after the comma. It strikes me as highly amusing that people are silly enough to fall for all this sabre rattling by the army and its PAD pals when it is obviously a simple ploy to make sure Prem gets the money for his birthday present and more weapons for his ‘boys’. As a Young Turk Chamlong and his pals helped Prem become the power behind the throne and surely Chamlong was the ‘brains’ behind the airport invasions which helped topple the last elected government and now he is helping Prem again. So what’s new?

The Nation claims that the Thai Army seeks Bt770 billion baht to buy tanks, guns and bullet-proof jackets! ‘In the Army's written proposal, a reason cited for the request is "increasing tensions along the Thai and Cambodian border, coupled with the extensive acquisition of new main battle tanks by neighbouring countries, both to the east and the west"‘ http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/Army-seeks-Bt770-bn-to-buy-tanks-gu... The latest request by the Thai army for up to three quarters of a trillion baht to update their equipment, citing the Cambodian dispute as a major reason that these upgrades are necessary, might seem to reinforce my earlier conclusion that the Cambodian dispute was actually planned by Prem for that very reason - to get much more money and equipment for the armed forces. However, it strikes me as too obvious; the military mind that has been behind previous plans has always been devious and I doubt that it is simply the change from Anupong to Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha as army chief that has made the difference. PAD and pals are obviously part of the plan and so it strikes me that it is essentially a plan to make the Abhisit government seem even handed to enhance their prospects in the promised forth coming election. The army cannot really afford another coup but neither can they chance a government that might favour the ‘Red Shirts’ having all the extra powers that the Abhisit government has established during its term. PAD have always proved to be a pressure group for the army and I can’t believe that has changed so I suspect the plan is to fool the people into believing that it has turned on Abhisit and Kasit etc. when in fact it is simply a ploy to make Abhisit look like a man of principle steering a forward course toward National Unification veering neither left nor right. Certainly the PAD star seems to be sinking as key members keep being arrested : ‘Police has arrested former senator Karun Sai-ngam, the yellow-clad People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD)'s key member, at Suvarnabhum Airport when he arrived from Cambodia tonight.’ http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/219594/another-pad-key-member-ar... For me the proof of the pudding will be whether the PAD leaders including Sondhi, Chamlong etc. actually go to jail for their leadership of the airport invasions, the storming of the national security centre and other ‘terrorist’ crimes or if some convenient compromise is reached once Abhisit is finally elected by the people… Third time lucky?

This morning: 'Kasit Vows To Free Veera' 'Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya says he will come up with a way to have two high-profile Thai detainees released from a Phnom Penh prison when he meets today with his Cambodian counterpart.' '"If Mr Veera stands firm in his testimony [before the Cambodian court] that he was arrested in Thai territory, then we can't do anything but let the court procedure go on until the end," he (Kasit) said.' http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/219781/kasit-vows-to-free-veera The fate of Veera and Ms Ratree is unlikely to be on the agenda when Kasit meets Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong as the two are expected to appeal the verdict next week, hence it seems highly unlikely that Kasit has vowed to free Veera! It is possible that Kasit could convince the two to plead guilty but that again is highly unlikely! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This afternoon: ‘A Border skirmish between Thai and Cambodian troops broke out Friday at the disputed area in Si Sa Ket province near the Hindu temple of Preah Vihear, local residents said.' 'The clash between two sides took place at Phu Ma Khua hill at 3.15pm and sounds of gun fire were heard at Si Sa Ket province's Ban Phum Srol some five kilometres from the hill, they said.' 'A Cambodian solider meanwhile confirmed the fighting. A local residents told the Nation in a telephone interview, "sounds of many weapons, including small and heavy weapons such as rockets were heard from the area," he said. "The fighting is still going on."' 'Authorities ordered local residents to take shelters immediately for their safety."' http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011/02/04/national/Thai-Khmer-border-sk... Hmmmmm. It’s certainly stolen the limelight from Egypt in the Thai media. 'Two or three Thai soldiers were wounded in an exchange of fire with Cambodian troops on Friday afternoon on the Thai-Cambodian border, and artillery rounds landed on Thai soil well inside the frontier, an informed military source said.' 'The clash started about 3.20pm near the disputed 4.6 square kilometre area around the Preah Vihear temple. Fighting was continuing, the source said. Heavy weapon rounds had landed on the Thai side of the border.' 'Many artillery shells landed at Huay Thip village in tambon Rung of Si Sa Ket's Kanthararak district, north of the Preah Vihear temple and about 1km from Phu Makhua mountain, which is part of the disputed area.' http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/219886/thai-cambodian-clash-on-border Always worth a read Bangkok Pundit asks : 'Will the PAD seize Government House again?' http://asiancorrespondent.com/author/bangkokpundit/ 'The PAD supporters occupied Government for 193 days in 2008 in an attempt to topple the Somchai Wongsawat government. Maj Gen Chamlong said last night: “Don’t worry. It’s easy to enter Government House. No one knows the place like I do.”' http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/219607/pad-calls-major-protest Could that be why Kasit vowed to free Veera?