Ex-PAD leaders slapped with Bt522m siege bill

[webfact]

Ex-PAD leaders slapped with Bt522m siege bill

By THE NATION

 

File photo: Former People’s Alliance for Democracy leader Sondhi Limthongkul speaks on stage during the yellow-shirt protest at Suvarnabhumi Airport in 2008.

 

Damages linked to airport takeovers in 2008 as former yellow shirts hit for political action.

BANGKOK: -- THE CIVIL COURT yesterday ordered 13 yellow-shirt leaders of the now-defunct political movement the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) to collectively pay Bt522 million to Airports of Thailand Public Company to compensate for damages incurred at Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi airports during lengthy protests in 2008.

 

The 13 leaders included former deputy prime minister Maj-General Chamlong Srimuang, media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul, social activist Pipob Thongchai, academic Somkiat Pongpaiboon, labour leader Somsak Kosaisuk, academic Suriyasai Katasila and actor Sarunyoo Wongkrachang.

 

The PAD led yellow-shirt |protesters against the then-government of Somchai Wongsawat in 2008, in effect seizing control of the airports from November 24 to December 3 and disrupting air travel. The two airports are the major gateways for domestic and international aviation in and out of the capital. 

 

A lower court’s judgement in 2011 ordered PAD leaders to pay compensation of Bt522 million plus interest of 7.5 per cent per year starting in December 2008 and continuing until full payment was made.

 

 

The Appeals Court upheld the judgement, prompting PAD leaders to file a petition asking the Supreme Court’s appeal period to be extended as their lawyers could not file within the 30-day deadline. The petition was rejected and the decision rendered final.

 

The 13 leaders have also been charged in a separate criminal case for actions at the airport, with witness testimonies scheduled for March.

 

Somkiat said he accepted the court ruling and was ready to face the consequences, but he added that he did not have enough money to pay the compensation so the case would probably involve bankruptcy filings.

 

“I have to get over it. We did not do that [take over the airports] for our own interests, but for the sake of the country.

We lit the candle in the dark and, when looking back to those days, I’m proud of having done my part. Without those days, there would not be General Prayut,” said Somkiat, referring to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, without elaborating further.

 

Somkiat said the ruling could undermine morale, adding he believed that if the public again faced economic and political difficulties, people would rise up eventually.

 

Pipob said he would consult with lawyers to determine his next move. He added that he was not sure if the former PAD leaders would jointly consult on their reaction to the verdict, given that they had just received the news.

 

Media mogul Sondhi is already in jail on another charge related to his businesses, while other PAD leaders are engaged in lawsuits and court trials related to their previous political activity.

 

Suriyasai said he might not be able to earn enough to pay the compensation and would seek a resolution with the company rather than face bankruptcy.

 

As the case is final, the company is authorised to determine the defendants’ assets and ask the Legal Execution Depart to enforce compensation.

 

The airport seizures marked a notorious period of political upheaval during PAD’s opposition to the former government. A series of street protests ended when the Constitutional Court dissolved the People’s Power Party (PPP), consequently toppling Somchai’s government, which the PAD regarded as a major enemy due to its strong links to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. 

 

Founded in 2006, PAD was initially led by Sondhi to oppose Thaksin prior to the 2006 military coup. The airport seizures occurred during a second episode that began when Thaksin backed the PPP, which won power after the 2007 election. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/politics/30327345

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-09-22

[Samui Bodoh]

1 minute ago, webfact said:

The 13 leaders have also been charged in a separate criminal case for actions at the airport, with witness testimonies scheduled for March.

 

A criminal trial to start (perhaps) in March. It is truly amazing that a trial of Yingluck could be all but completed, assets seized, bans put in to place, etc. so quickly...

 

...but a major terrorist incident of capturing an international airport is still under investigation, nine years on.

 

That is amazing, but even more amazing still is that people come here and claim that there is justice in the Thai legal system.

 

One law for 'Yellows', and another for 'Reds'. Over and over again...

 

[baboon]

1 minute ago, Samui Bodoh said:

 

A criminal trial to start (perhaps) in March. It is truly amazing that a trial of Yingluck could be all but completed, assets seized, bans put in to place, etc. so quickly...

 

...but a major terrorist incident of capturing an international airport is still under investigation, nine years on.

 

That is amazing, but even more amazing still is that people come here and claim that there is justice in the Thai legal system.

 

One law for 'Yellows', and another for 'Reds'. Over and over again...

 

But it is interesting: Are 'upstairs' prepared to throw their (former) cheerleaders under the bus?

[ukrules]

I have a feeling that they won't pay it. Did Yingluck pay her 30 Billion Baht invoice ?

[webfact]

Thai activists ordered to pay $16 million for occupying airports

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thirteen activists were ordered to pay a total of $16 million in compensation on Thursday for shutting down Bangkok's two main international airports during protests in 2008.

 

Thailand's Supreme Court told the leading members of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) to pay the money plus interst to the Airports ofThailand operator.

 

Protesters occupied Don Muang and Suvarnabhumi International Airports for more than a week in late 2008, disrupting hundreds of flights and stranding hundreds of thousands of travelers.

 

One of the PAD leaders affected by the ruling, Suriyasai Katasila, told Reuters it might take years for them to find all the money.

 

"If we cannot pay the compensation then the AOT (Airports of Thailand) will have to sue us for bankruptcy," he said.

 

"I believe what we have done was for the public interest in opposing a corrupt government at the time, it was not motivated by personal interests at all," he added.

 

PAD was formed 2005 in opposition to Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Thai prime minister who was ousted in a 2006 military coup. It supporters include members of the urban middle class and support the traditional royalist-military elite.

 

A total of 98 PAD protesters, more commonly known as the Yellow Shirts, have also been charged with terrorism and other criminal offences linked to the airports occupation.

 

(Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng, Panarat Thepgumpanat; Writing by Panu Wongcha-um; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-09-22

[inThailand]

So civil damages of 522 million but no criminal convictions? Priceless!

[BangkokNicky]

i wonder how much will go to small business who suffered  when these crooks shut down the airport ..oh wait this is Thailand so nothing am guessing ..

[rkidlad]

$16 million to shut down an airport?

 

Why has no one been sentenced to prison yet? This was a huge embarrassment to Thailand and their security forces. 

[BangkokNicky]

14 minutes ago, ukrules said:

I have a feeling that they won't pay it. Did Yingluck pay her 30 Billion Baht invoice ?

• Karma is being nice to Sondhi Limthongkul he going blind .. 

[BangkokNicky]

3 minutes ago, rkidlad said:

$16 million to shut down an airport?

 

Why has no one been sentenced to prison yet? This was a huge embarrassment to Thailand and their security forces. 

Because this is a backwards country where hi-so get off everything scot free look at the red bull drama and how long has that been since he run over the police officer 

[inThailand]

3 minutes ago, BangkokNicky said:

• Karma is being nice to Sondhi Limthongkul he going blind .. 

If you can't see the bill is that a valid reason here not to pay?

[ramrod711]

47 minutes ago, BangkokNicky said:

i wonder how much will go to small business who suffered  when these crooks shut down the airport ..oh wait this is Thailand so nothing am guessing ..

If that is the proper amount for shutting down an airport for less than a week I wonder what the bill should be for shutting down a major intersection for 3 months, burning a mall and "security guards" shaking down local residents for cash? Not to mention, of course, policing, Oops I forgot, the police didn't do anything so that's a freebee.

[Thian]

15 minutes ago, ramrod711 said:

If that is the proper amount for shutting down an airport for less than a week I wonder what the bill should be for shutting down a major intersection for 3 months, burning a mall and "security guards" shaking down local residents for cash? Not to mention, of course, policing, Oops I forgot, the police didn't do anything so that's a freebee.

You forget blocking many main roads for long time, camping illegal in a citypark, burning tyres among highrise buildings, blocking government buildings, putting government buildings on fire...

[hansnl]

2 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

 

A criminal trial to start (perhaps) in March. It is truly amazing that a trial of Yingluck could be all but completed, assets seized, bans put in to place, etc. so quickly...

 

...but a major terrorist incident of capturing an international airport is still under investigation, nine years on.

 

That is amazing, but even more amazing still is that people come here and claim that there is justice in the Thai legal system.

 

One law for 'Yellows', and another for 'Reds'. Over and over again...

 

What about the redshirt leaders who called their followers to burn down some buildings here and there?

[ramrod711]

9 minutes ago, Thian said:

You forget blocking many main roads for long time, camping illegal in a citypark, burning tyres among highrise buildings, blocking government buildings, putting government buildings on fire...

Absolutely right, I also forgot to mention attempting to blow up a fuel bunker at that very same airport.

[halloween]

2 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

 

A criminal trial to start (perhaps) in March. It is truly amazing that a trial of Yingluck could be all but completed, assets seized, bans put in to place, etc. so quickly...

 

...but a major terrorist incident of capturing an international airport is still under investigation, nine years on.

 

That is amazing, but even more amazing still is that people come here and claim that there is justice in the Thai legal system.

 

One law for 'Yellows', and another for 'Reds'. Over and over again...

 

What's even more amazing is they are all still here. They waited to hear their verdict and are now making arrangements to pay their debt.

 

BTW a new court with no backlog has been instituted for political office holders, and it is doing a great job.

BTW2 terrorism? Perhaps you should look at the news reports from that time. The closest thing to terrorism was the attacks on the protesters.

[robblok]

2 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

 

A criminal trial to start (perhaps) in March. It is truly amazing that a trial of Yingluck could be all but completed, assets seized, bans put in to place, etc. so quickly...

 

...but a major terrorist incident of capturing an international airport is still under investigation, nine years on.

 

That is amazing, but even more amazing still is that people come here and claim that there is justice in the Thai legal system.

 

One law for 'Yellows', and another for 'Reds'. Over and over again...

 

Yea and those red terrorist inciting the burning of BKK are still free too. Thai justice is just real slow. 

[inThailand]

2 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

 

A criminal trial to start (perhaps) in March. It is truly amazing that a trial of Yingluck could be all but completed, assets seized, bans put in to place, etc. so quickly...

 

...but a major terrorist incident of capturing an international airport is still under investigation, nine years on.

 

That is amazing, but even more amazing still is that people come here and claim that there is justice in the Thai legal system.

 

One law for 'Yellows', and another for 'Reds'. Over and over again...

 

And another lesser law for falangs.

[Denim]

49 minutes ago, Thian said:

You forget blocking many main roads for long time, camping illegal in a citypark, burning tyres among highrise buildings, blocking government buildings, putting government buildings on fire...

Agreed. So far almost nothing has been done about Sutheps ' shut down Bangkok ' protest which must also have cost the country millions of baht. The leaders of that protest are probably going to get away with no criminal charges given Sutheps revelation that he planned it all with Prayuth right from the start. And of course, the PM has granted himself immunity so he won't be finding himself in the courts any time soon.

[YetAnother]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

I believe what we have done was for the public interest

how many deflecting excuses can thai leaders come up with ? 

how is public interest served by breaking the law, inciting thousands of others to do so ?  i always believed laws served the public interest;

how about the hundreds of thousands of travelers; chaos in the nearby area, uncertainty for international travelers, added , unanticipated expense for those travelers, total loss-of-face in their eyes for thailand's precious international image ( Bet a lot of them, the 'quality tourists', wont be back)

and last and least , discomfort for domestic travelers;

 

[TEFLKrabi]

It will be an interesting precedent to a future trial for holding Bangkok to ransom, being indirectly responsible for dozens of deaths and burning down buildings. Hope the PAD haters are ready for the consequences of this.

[newatthis]

"I have to get over it. We did not do that [take over the airports] for our own interests, but for the sake of the country.

We lit the candle in the dark and, when looking back to those days, I’m proud of having done my part. Without those days, there would not be General Prayut,” said Somkiat, referring to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, without elaborating further."

 

So, all along, this mob and their associates were scheming  to have a military junta run Thailand.

[Eric Loh]

6 minutes ago, TEFLKrabi said:

It will be an interesting precedent to a future trial for holding Bangkok to ransom, being indirectly responsible for dozens of deaths and burning down buildings. Hope the PAD haters are ready for the consequences of this.

So who burn down the buildings. The courts seem to have a habit of acquitting the red shirts that they charged. The airport occupation perpetrators were more obvious and damages in terms of financial and image were measurable. And those 80+ civilian and foreigner deaths must be their responsibility for running into the high velocity bullets of the military and snipers.

[harada]

I'm sure that their backers will have a spare Bt522m to help them out.

[Eric Loh]

Waiting for Prayut to sign an executive order to seize their assets. 

[halloween]

2 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

So who burn down the buildings. The courts seem to have a habit of acquitting the red shirts that they charged. The airport occupation perpetrators were more obvious and damages in terms of financial and image were measurable. And those 80+ civilian and foreigner deaths must be their responsibility for running into the high velocity bullets of the military and snipers.

So because the courts can't identify the culprits you would have us believe buildings spontaneously combusted? That despite speech after speech that the redshirts would burn BKK if they didn't get what they wanted, they actually had nothing to do with the flames that followed their dispersal?

Actually it's just the sort of BS I would expect from someone who claims the black shirts were anything but an armed group within the red camp.

[Baerboxer]

7 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

 

A criminal trial to start (perhaps) in March. It is truly amazing that a trial of Yingluck could be all but completed, assets seized, bans put in to place, etc. so quickly...

 

...but a major terrorist incident of capturing an international airport is still under investigation, nine years on.

 

That is amazing, but even more amazing still is that people come here and claim that there is justice in the Thai legal system.

 

One law for 'Yellows', and another for 'Reds'. Over and over again...

 

 

Yep, a justice system with it's own timescales and uniqueness.

 

But that doesn't make any of them, including Yingluck, innocent or beyond the law.

 

And you miss, conveniently, that these accused have been hit with big fines and have yet to face the criminal court.

 

When someone doesn't get prosecuted for unique interpretations, a la Tarit with his definition of perjury, or a judge admits he though someone guilty but voted not guilty because they'd just become PM, then yes, it's certainly a different system.

 

Far more intricate than a simple reds v yellows.

[Samui Bodoh]

12 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Yep, a justice system with it's own timescales and uniqueness.

 

But that doesn't make any of them, including Yingluck, innocent or beyond the law.

 

And you miss, conveniently, that these accused have been hit with big fines and have yet to face the criminal court.

 

When someone doesn't get prosecuted for unique interpretations, a la Tarit with his definition of perjury, or a judge admits he though someone guilty but voted not guilty because they'd just become PM, then yes, it's certainly a different system.

 

Far more intricate than a simple reds v yellows.

 

Yes, I would agree that it is more intricate than simply Yellow vs Red. Honestly though, I do think that plays a very big part, and that makes me feel sad for Thailand. The country so desperately wants to be taken seriously as a modern, developed country (whatever that means), but will never be seen as such as long as its justice system churns out nonsense like this case. 

 

"And you miss, conveniently, that these accused have been hit with big fines and have yet to face the criminal court."

 

Actually, this is the one that leaps out at me the most. Traditionally, civil cases take longer than criminal ones, mainly because not as many resources and assets are deployed in support of them. Yes, a bit weird, but the criminal side is "sexier". However, my original point remains. The PAD occupied the airport several years before the Yingluck government took power, yet her case was finished before this one has really begun. How can one look at that and say that they are being treated equally? And this is not the only time things like this have occurred. I find the call of "Double Standard!!!" about as irritating as you, but I can't argue with the evidence.

 

If Thailand ever wants to get past the political divide, it needs to have a functioning, respected system of justice. That is still a ways off in the future...

 

Cheers

[Eric Loh]

35 minutes ago, halloween said:

So because the courts can't identify the culprits you would have us believe buildings spontaneously combusted? That despite speech after speech that the redshirts would burn BKK if they didn't get what they wanted, they actually had nothing to do with the flames that followed their dispersal?

Actually it's just the sort of BS I would expect from someone who claims the black shirts were anything but an armed group within the red camp.

Don't be silly. Building can't self combust. The courts have not determined the perpetrators. Could be the red shirts, military provocateurs or even the owners of the buildings. Who know without direct evidence and conviction. Those circumstantial evidence of speeches have no legal links to the burning. The courts need direct not cicumstantial evidence nor your version. Goes the same for the black shirts which were military renegades albeit my version. 

[Samui Bodoh]

3 hours ago, TEFLKrabi said:

It will be an interesting precedent to a future trial for holding Bangkok to ransom, being indirectly responsible for dozens of deaths and burning down buildings. Hope the PAD haters are ready for the consequences of this.

 

You are making a rather large assumption that any precedent set here will actually apply down the road. In my (albeit limited) experience of Thai justice and court rulings, there does not seem to be any recognizable pattern. Any ruling made regarding the PAD may or may not apply later.

 

Perhaps if the Thai courts followed precedent, they might earn some respect...