Compensation For Tak Bai Victims Considered: Thailand

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Compensation for Tak Bai victims considered

The Nation

Defence Minister General Yuthasak Sasiprapha yesterday voiced support for the idea of extending compensation guidelines to cover the surviving family members of the 87 people killed in the Tak Bai incident in 2004.

Yuthasak also suggested that adjustments be made to the compensation provided for security forces killed or injured in the violence-plagued South.

"I think the Tak Bai victims should be compensated because they were killed without any justification," he said.

The Pheu Thai-led government has a standing policy to bring about reconciliation and compensating victims of political violence is part of the move to mend fences, he said.

He added that he was in charge of taking care of soldiers killed or injured while trying to quell violence in the deep South, while Interior Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit would oversee the disbursement of compensation for victims of political disturbances. He said that as per his understanding, Yongyuth would need a week to map out guidelines for disbursing the compensation.

Meanwhile, Yongyuth said guidelines for compensating victims of the insurgency in the South was also being mapped out and that Justice Minister Pracha Promnok was in charge of working out both sets of guidelines.

He went on to say that only innocent victims would be compensated, and not those who were prosecuted for criminal offence.

In response to the Democrat Party's attack that the compensation was unfair, Yongyuth said everybody was entitled to their opinions but the government would not be deterred from paying victims of political turmoil.

Government officials involved in drawing up guidelines for victims of violence in the South, said the debate on who exactly was entitled to compensation was still inconclusive because the insurgency erupted eight years ago.

In addition, demand from state officials like teachers and defence volunteers for the same compensation package further complicated the issue.

Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha said the compensation package should be reviewed, computed and paid on a case-by-case basis depending on the circumstances of each victim.

As for disturbances related to the 2010 red-shirt rallies, he said security forces and civilian victims should not be entitled to the same compensation packages.

"The military already has guidelines applicable to all branches of the armed forces, and confusion will ensue if a specific incident or a political disturbance is used as the benchmark to calculate compensation," he said.

There are 400,000 troops and the country can hardly afford to dole out Bt7.75 million for each soldier killed on duty, he said, in reference to the compensation package meant for civilian victims in political disturbances.

Asked if he agreed with the amount earmarked for civilians, he said the government had already finalised its decision on the matter and would have to bear the consequences.

He said he hoped the compensation would be a positive gesture for reconciliation, though he did not believe everybody would be happy about it.

-- The Nation 2012-01-14