Thai Defense Minister Prawit To Take Over As CRES Chief

[webfact]

Prawit to take over as CRES chief after Suthep quits

By The Nation

Published on October 2, 2010

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday agreed to have Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan replace outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban as chief of the Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) to watch over the four provinces, including Bangkok, that are still under the state of emergency.

Suthep, who will quit the position next week so he can run in the Surat Thani by-election, personally proposed that Prawit be put in charge of security matters, National Security Council secretary-general Thawin Pleansi said.

Abhisit agreed, saying that Prawit had the capability to take over because he has been the deputy chief of CRES from the very beginning.

New Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha has replaced his predecessor General Anupong Paochinda as CRES chief officer.

On Thursday, the emergency decree was lifted in the Northeast provinces of Khon Kaen, Nakhon Ratchasima and Udon Thani, government spokesman Panitan Wattanyagorn said.

The director-general of the Department of Special Investigation, Tharit Pengdit, said he had proposed that the emergency decree remain in force in Bangkok as well as the neighbouring provinces of Samut Prakan, Nonthaburi and Pathum Thani, especially since there were recent explosions in the area.

Abhisit said it was necessary to retain emergency law because of reports of sabotage in Bangkok.

"We need to find measures to deal with the situation, and the emergency law is a preventive measure," he said. "I have asked concerned agencies to see if normal laws can be enforced to handle the situation, to find ways to avoid enforcing the emergency law."

Amara Phongsapit, chairwoman of the National Human Rights Commission, who discussed the matter with Abhisit yesterday, said the decision was up to the government, adding that the commission could say nothing even though it believes the emergency law violates the fundamental rights of the people.

"I simply told the PM that having the country under a chronic state of emergency was not a favourable practice," she said.

Amara quoted Abhisit as saying that the Cabinet would consider lifting the emergency in the four remaining provinces next week.

The prime minister later said he had told the Justice Ministry to check details about the 184 suspects being detained under the emergency law to see if their rights were being violated.

Police are also looking for 25 people reported missing since the military crackdown in May, he said.

However, he added, human rights were not the top priority at present because the authorities were struggling to hunt down bombs and masterminds behind the recent explosions in Bangkok.

Police yesterday released the pictures of three suspects believed to be behind bomb attacks in many Bangkok sites. The suspects were identified as Mongkon Saraphan from Samut Prakan, Thanadej Ekapiwat from Bangkok and Somkiart Saranium from Ratchaburi.

Pol General Panupong Singhara na Ayutthaya, an adviser to the national police chief, said he hoped to put the three behind bars soon and believed that they would name the mastermind behind explosions.

Panupong, who was put in charge of resolving bomb attacks in Bangkok, said police had arrest warrants for three suspects in connection with terrorism acts.

National police chief Wichean Potephosree said the threat to bomb Siriraj Hospital in a call made to 191 emergency centre was probably done by a mentally ill person or someone who had psychological problems. Police received a call on Thursday night but failed to find the caller, and Wichean said the hoax did not appear politically motivated.

-- The Nation 2010-10-02

[asiawatcher]

It would be interesting to understand the roles and differentiation between CRES, DSI and the Police. Seems there is a lot of politicking even within those three groups and so far, not a lot of resolution of the perpetrators being brought to justice.