October is normally a politically heated month in Thailand, as seen in
the numerous street protests, military shenanigans and other political
developments in the recent history and in the more distant past. However, the
events in this month were less controversial, or the changes were in the
detail, or both. Here are some of the stories that show that.
Military promotions and cabinet reshuffle: look who’s talking now?
Normally, the annual reshuffle
and promotions of countless military officers and civilian ministers is enough
source for discord between the government and the armed forces and for both
groups within themselves. This year’s military merry-go-round has been largely
unsurprising – apart from the removal of Defense Permanent Secretary Gen.
Sathien Permthong-in – and reassures the ongoing truce with the government.
Also, the promotion of Yingluck’s nephew is seen by some as a good sign.
The new cabinet of Prime Minister
Yingluck Shinawatra on the other hand has some interesting changes. Yongyuth
Wichaidit has resigned as deputy prime minister and Pheu Thai Party leader,
some saying to evade a potential corruption case, while the rest of the Yingluck
cabinet has the pundits reaching for very different conclusion. Some are saying
Thaksin is slowly reclaiming the party, while others say Yingluck is holding
her ground.
Sleeping hawks are awake, confused
One more thing that normally
comes up during this time of the year (mostly as a negative outcome of the two
issues above): rumors and calls for a military coup – since that is apparently
the only time-proofed method to bring in stability and democracy in Thailand,
according to some.
Last Sunday saw yet another rally
that calls for the current government to be ousted by nothing else but a
military intervention. The group calls
itself Pitak Siam (Protect Siam) and their main organizer is Ret. Gen. Boonlert
Kaewprasit, chairman of the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School (AFAPS)
Foundation and Class 1 graduate. He’s also been consistent in demanding coups
on a regular basis (and having participated in the failed coup attempt of March
1977), citing the cause of protecting the monarchy from lèse majesté. No change
this time:
“I’d love to see a coup because I
know this puppet government is here to rob the country. Several sectors of
society can’t take it anymore. If I had the power a coup would have been staged
by now,” he said. (…)
Over the past year the government
has not only stood by as offensive criticism has been hurled against the
monarchy, but it has appeared to encourage it, he said. The government has
showed itself to be Thaksin’s puppet, he said, adding that by installing his
sister Yingluck as prime minister, Thaksin had insulted the entire nation.
“Pitak Siam rally hopes to oust
govt“, Bangkok Post, October 24, 2012
The rally itself was joined by
groups (many are PAD-aligned) that can be generally described as
ultra-royalist, anti-democratic and nationalist, but also some that are just
fed up with the current government. Attendance figures varied wildly between
3,000 (police estimate) and 30,000 (organizer’s estimate) – but it’s safe to
say that they were able to fill the main grandstand at the Royal Turf Club,
which holds about 20,000.
What all the coup demands in
recent years have in common (apart that it is potentially illegal) is a
relentless contempt against Thaksin and the willingness to accept the damage of
a military coup with the disregard for the democratic system. The upper
echelons of the army at the moment are siding with the government – for now.
Gen. Boonlert has announced that there’ll be another rally soon and is even
more hell-bent to topple this government no matter the costs. However, he and
like-minded people should also take into account that another military coup
will be even less well-received by the general population than at the last one.
Thailand’s eternal 3G farce – the last chapter?
After an almost eternal and
tedious waiting period Thailand will finally upgrade to 3G mobile technology
making it the second-to-last country in Southeast Asia to do so. It’s been a
long and painful process but now Thailand’s citizens, especially smartphone
users, can look forward to finally get wide 3G coverage even before the end of
year – or may be not…?!
See, the issue with the 3G
implementation in Thailand is a neverending story and – admittedly – much more
complicated to explain than the government’s rice pledging scheme! The last
auction attempt in 2010 was stopped by a last-minute court order after a
complaint by a state-owned telecommunications company that the National
Telecommunications Commission (NTC) was not authorized to hold the auction – a
mess created by the 2007 constitution.
Now, the National Broadcasting
and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) which had the authority to hold this
auction. There were in total 9 slots of 5 MHz bandwidth each, three bidders who
cannot get more than three each and the results were underwhelming for some.
Thailand has raised 41.6 billion
baht (US$1.4 billion) from its long-awaited auction of 3G mobile licenses, with
the three bidding operators said to have paid “only a small premium”.
[...] the three bidders – AIS,
Dtac and True Move – managed to secure 3G licenses. The NBTC noted that AIS
submitted the highest bid at 14.6 billion baht (US$ 475 million) for three slots
of 5 MHz bandwidth. The other two operators each submitted the minimum bid of
13.5 billion baht (US$439 million) for the three slots of bandwidth, it added.
“Thailand nets $1.4B from 3G auction“, ZDNet, October 17, 2012
Dtac was the only one to bid
slightly above the starting price and overall the auction only gained a plus of
only 1.125 bn Baht ($36m) or 2.78 per cent above the reserve price. Amidst that
meager profit from the bidding a torrential flood of criticism poured down on
the whole event, especially on the NBTC. Most fault them for missing out on a
lot of money during the bidding and thus the ‘damaging the country’ (even
leading The Nation to draw up the most ludicrous conspiracy theory or a poor
attempt at satire). On the other hand considering that this was a bureaucratic
mess almost a decade in the making and the resistance of state companies, one
has to wonder what is still left of the real price of infrastructure progress
in Thailand.
And meanwhile across the border,
Laos is preparing to launch 4G…!
Lèse majesté update: Judiciary upholds constitutionality while suspect
is acquitted
Thailand’s Constitutional Court
has ruled the Kingdom’s draconian lèse majesté law unanimously and
unsurprisingly as ‘constitutional’, after Somyos Prueksakasemsuk and Akechai
Hongkangwarn (both accused and detained on lèse majesté charges) have contested
Article 112 of the Criminal Code in a landmark legal challenge.
Meanwhile, some good news: A
41-year-old programmer has been acquitted of lèse majesté charges. The court
ruled in doubt for the defendant after
it was not clear whether or not he was the author of defamatory Facebook
messages and that computer evidence could have been even forged.
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