http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2538&Itemid=185
Growing Numbers of Thai Protesters Jailed
Written by Our Correspondent
Wednesday, 16 June 2010
The Bangkok elite show little sign they favor reconciliation
As many as 435 Red Shirt protesters remain in Thai jails and prisons in
the wake of the May 19 breaking of the two-month siege of Bangkok by police and
soldiers, with more being added every day, according to a list supplied to
opposition figures and released to the press Wednesday.
A careful examination of the lists indicates that the authorities are
predictably punishing the protesters while so far allegations of violence
concerning government soldiers and royalists have been ignored. Considerable
evidence exists indicating that soldiers and others deliberately targeted and
killed not only protesters but members of the international press. Two foreign
journalists were killed during the confrontations and seven foreign and
domestic reporters were wounded, several of them seriously.
As Asia Sentinel reported on May 19, if the results of three previous
revolts in 1972, 1976 and 1992 are considered, the defeated can expect little
comfort. Thailand has experienced three major violent political upheavals in
the 35 or so years before the present crisis began. There was little leniency
shown to demonstrators in any of the three following the upheavals, despite the
fact that in all three cases the authorities shared as much responsibility for
the violence, if not considerably more, as the protesters.
Some 13 of the top leaders of the United Front for Democracy Against
Dictatorship - the Red Shirts - have been incarcerated at Narasuan Military
Camp in Cha-Am, in Petchaburi Province, an unknown number charged with
terrorism. Among them, according to local media, are Veera Musigkapong,
Natthawut Saikua, Nisit Sinthuprai, Kwanchai Praiphana,Yosvarit chooklom or
Jeng Dokjig, Weng Tochairakarn, Wiphuthalaeng Pattanaphuthai and Korkaew
Pikulthong.
So far, according to the Red Shirt sources, another 417 of the prisoners
detained as a result of the pro-democracy protests have been charged under
various clauses in the Emergency Decree. More than 100 were charged with arson,
apparently stemming from the torching of buildings as the protesters were being
driven out of the center of Bangkok. More than 25 were charged with possession
of weapons or explosives.
Other charges ranged from relatively minor ones like curfew violations to
destruction of property to theft or possession of drugs. The protesters are
being held in at least eight prisons from Ayudhaya to central Bangkok to
Donburi.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on June 9 in a nationally publicized
address introduced a five-point reconciliation program that he said seeks to
address social and economic disparities. The plan also seeks to impose new
controls on the news media, which largely hewed to a pro-government line
throughout the two-month confrontation, during which 88 people died, most of
them protesters although several soldiers were gunned down by mysterious "men
in black" snipers believed to be connected to the Red Shirts, although nobody
has been able to pin down just who they were.
The embattled prime minister also said his plan would discuss
constitutional reform and "uphold the honor of the monarchy." Several
commissions are to be appointed on June 17 to carry out the plan.
As the three past episodes have shown, in which dozens of leaders were
jailed for long periods, the red leadership at all levels should expect to be
targeted for judicial punishment and extra-judicial disposal. Given the numbers
of people who have been jailed and the growing numbers who are expected to be
jailed, it appears that will be the case in this episode as well. The elites of
Bangkok believe they have won the skirmish and appear unlikely to cede any
power to the protesters.
Although Abhisit had earlier agreed under pressure to hold national
elections in November, there has been no indication since the protesters were
driven out of Bangkok that elections - the Red Shirt protesters' main goal -
will be held any time soon.
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