Thaksin Assassination Claim Manipulated For Political Gain

[webfact]

EDITORIAL

Assassination claim manipulated for political gain

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Allegations that foreign suspects wanted to kill former premier Thaksin Shinawatra have been used for the benefit of certain parties

Now that the dust has settled, it has became clear that the recent claim that someone was out to assassinate fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra was greatly politicised, demonstrating once again that our policy-makers have no qualms about compromising national security for political gain.

First, it was Thaksin's son, Panthongtae, who went on Facebook to claim that his father had to cancel a planned trip to Myanmar's border town of Tachilek, where he planned to meet his red-shirt supporters.

According to the son, somebody was out to kill his father, and the recent arrest of a Myanmar national with weapons including an RPG launcher was tied into that allegation.

Panthongtae's claim was backed up by Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung.

Defence Minister ACM Sukampol Suwannathat, sensing where this circus was heading, decided to stay out of it completely. "You must ask for more information from Panthongtae, as I have no idea," Sukampol replied to reporters when asked about the claim.

Then came Thaksin's legal adviser, Noppadon Patama, who suggested that drug lords in Myanmar might want to kill Thaksin because of his 2003 "war on drugs". But that controversial "war" left only Thai citizens dead - about 2,500 of them. The then-Thaksin government said all the killings, with the exception of one or two, involved drug dealers killing each other.

The fact that the global community condemned that campaign has forced many to wonder why Noppadon would even try to use that episode to make his boss look good.

More doubt was cast on Panthongtae's claim when National Security Council secretary-general Paradorn Pattanathabutr made an abrupt about-face over the alleged plot. Last week Paradorn told reporters one morning that there was no evidence for the assassination plot, but later in the day he changed his tune after he had been summoned to a meeting with Deputy Premier Chalerm.

A bigger setback was the Wall Street Journal quoting Myanmar Police Major Min Kyaw Thu as saying, the arrest of the Myanmar citizen in Tachilek with weapons "has nothing to do with Thaksin. There is absolutely no plot to assassinate Thaksin." The police major was quoted as saying that the case was related to drugs and that it was still being investigated.

This is not about a sloppy public-relations exercise between top government officials and the public. It's about trying to spin something for political gain at the expense of national security.

Security issues should not be twisted and bent just to benefit one man, because when political leaders do so, they compromise the nation's security. Security and intelligence officers need to be free from government interference so they can deliver sound analysis of the situation.

But if they are so eager to please the big bosses by any means necessary, perhaps they should compare notes before they go public with their claims and statements.

It's amazing how the NSC chief, a strong ally of the Thaksin camp, could change his mind so completely within just a few hours.

Yes, Thaksin has a lot of enemies. Was it drug barons plotting to kill him, as suggested by Noppadon, or was someone in Thailand?

This is not the first time we have heard such assassination claims. While Thaksin was in power, there was a claim by the then-police chief, Pol General Sant Saruthanond. In March 2003 he said the United Wa State Army wanted to kill Thaksin. The Wa group's Bao Yu-xiang was quick to dismiss the claim because, understandably, he wanted to be friends with Thaksin and Thailand. Bao didn't trust the Myanmar government and wanted to secure an economic lifeline for his people in their autonomous territory in the Golden Triangle.

Eventually, Bao succeeded somewhat. Thaksin, with the support of Myanmar's then-security tsar Khin Nyunt, gave the go-ahead for Thai military and development officials to support the Yongkha crop-substitution project in Wa Army-controlled territory near the border. With an initiative like that, one wondered what the anti-drug hoopla coming from Thaksin's mouth was really all about in the first place.

-- The Nation 2012-11-13

[looping]

I'm guessing that not enough supporters made the trek to meet him (appease his ego), so this whole idea was invented to get him out of it. Did he apologies to those who made the trek?

[MikeOboe57]

I'm guessing that not enough supporters made the trek to meet him (appease his ego), so this whole idea was invented to get him out of it. Did he apologies to those who made the trek?

It was also reported that the Burmese authorities were less than enthusiastic about the prospect of red rabble flooding its border town.

[Moruya]

White hot white lies.

Yet more family on the porky list

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Thaivisa Connect App

[Thai at Heart]

This reads like some of the posts on here

[Mitker]

(Quote:

Then came Thaksin's legal adviser, Noppadon Patama, who suggested that drug lords in Myanmar might want to kill Thaksin because of his 2003 "war on drugs". But that controversial "war" left only Thai citizens dead - about 2,500 of them. The then-Thaksin government said all the killings, with the exception of one or two, involved drug dealers killing each other.

Quote.)

So now we got it.

The war on drugs meant that TS made a kind request to the drug dealers to declare a war on drugs. They politely obliged and started killing each other.

Result: 2,500 dealers killed by dealers.

Only dealers, no police involved. Except 1 or 2 (that's 0,1%), no extra-judicial killings

Shame on us if we believe otherwise

[Buchholz]

Defence Minister ACM Sukampol Suwannathat, sensing where this circus was heading, decided to stay out of it completely. "You must ask for more information from Panthongtae, as I have no idea," Sukampol replied to reporters when asked about the claim.

Panthongtae as an information source.

The height of absurdity.

Too bad Sukampol didn't feel confident enough in his position to call the "circus" for what it was, but then, as one of the clowns himself, it's understandable he didn't wish to lose his position in the carnival.

.

[KKvampire]

Everything Thaksin, His family His, His Political placemen and women in PT is based on Lies and self fulfilling publicity , It's their lives

[Siripon]

There is no greater liar in the world today than the former PM Mr Thaksin.

His attempt to gain entry to The Guinness Book of Records began in 2001 with his newly coined phrase, 'An honest mistake' and has continued ever since.

Mr Chalerm has attempted to compete with such phrases as,'Ai Peud was the murderer' and 'Thaksin didn't do anything illegal, he just did something the law doesn't allow', but he's still far behind in both numbers and quality of lies.

[bendejo]

My pet title for TS is the anti-Socrates: whatever he says will be the opposite, otherwise he wouldn't have said it.

[smutcakes]

Maybe if the newspapers and media outlets stopped reporting all this rubbish then it would never have got any traction in the first place. They were speculating from day one that this could all of been a hoax, so why bother keep reporting it and keeping it in the news. Just let it go.

I think maybe 70% of the country could not give two hoots about TS one way or another, and its simply the 15% on either side who one way in another love to talk about him, and continue to bring his name into everything. If people just stopped talking about him, media stopped writing about him, PTP members just got on with their jobs without talking about him, members of the press stopped asking questions about him trying to illicit responses then the country might be able to go some way to forgetting about him. If the Government still want to consult or discuss with him on things then that's up to them- do it behind closed doors and at least make it look like they are running the Government and getting some things done.

99% of the things written about him are just complete meaningless clap trap. By all means if there is generally something news worthy obviously it has to be written about, but half of the things written are just he says, she says bull.

[dominique355]

I remember an event back in - I think - 2003 when Thaksin was about to board an airplane in Bangkok. Shortly before Thaksin was to board the plane, the galley (kitchen) in the plane caught fire. Thaksin was quick in using this incident for his own purposes claiming that this was a bomb placed in the plane and he knew who was behind the attempt to kill him.

Further investigation showed that there was no bomb and no plot. But, hey, Thaksin knew who was behind it.

Now here, Chalerm claimed to know who was behind the plot. Why was nobody arrested if the government knew about it and who was behind it? Incompetence or plain liars? (Or both?)

[LomSak27]

Well come on - How many weeks ago were the Dems parading around with cardboard rifles on a fact finding mission that proved Thaksin actually hired the Men In Black to shoot his own people so he could then blame the Dems and Abhisit.

And the Nation went with it

Now they suddenly have an attack of common sense

The Nation needs to have some common sense about both sides or they are just partisian cheerleaders and all a lot of us do is take them with a grain of salt

[Buchholz]

I remember an event back in - I think - 2003 when Thaksin was about to board an airplane in Bangkok. Shortly before Thaksin was to board the plane, the galley (kitchen) in the plane caught fire. Thaksin was quick in using this incident for his own purposes claiming that this was a bomb placed in the plane and he knew who was behind the attempt to kill him.

Further investigation showed that there was no bomb and no plot. But, hey, Thaksin knew who was behind it.

Now here, Chalerm claimed to know who was behind the plot. Why was nobody arrested if the government knew about it and who was behind it? Incompetence or plain liars? (Or both?)

His son tells us that in addition to the above farcical assassination story ( 2001, btw )

http://www.b737.org.uk/thai737news.htm

and the farcical assassination story of this OP, that are still three other farcical assassination stories.

Panthongtae in the other paper is calling this the 5th attempt on Dad's life, all of which involved the same group of people.

.

[Nickymaster]

This government is 1 big lie. Everybody lies non-stop and the biggest liar is the DPM in charge of the Royal Thai Police.

The entire administration is rotten to the core. What a mess.

Dear Yingluck, how long can you keep on fooling people with your pretty face.. just amazing.

Edited November 13, 2012 by Nickymaster

[hellodolly]

Well I think it is just a sign of his paranoia.

He is 100% convinced there is a bullet in Thailand with his name on it.

Gee I wonder why he would think that with all the things he has done for Thailand.

[GazR]

Well come on - How many weeks ago were the Dems parading around with cardboard rifles on a fact finding mission that proved Thaksin actually hired the Men In Black to shoot his own people so he could then blame the Dems and Abhisit.

And the Nation went with it

Now they suddenly have an attack of common sense

The Nation needs to have some common sense about both sides or they are just partisian cheerleaders and all a lot of us do is take them with a grain of salt

BTW to my recollection, the official investigation into the deaths in 2010 recently concluded that there were 5 'black shirt' hooded assassins - all 5 on the Red Shirt side.

[GazR]

Well I think it is just a sign of his paranoia.

He is 100% convinced there is a bullet in Thailand with his name on it.

Gee I wonder why he would think that with all the things he has done for Thailand.

Yes - someone probably would shoot him: just a matter of who shoots first and straight.

What goes around comes around.

[TomTao]

I am wondering if there is a script writer for these assassination claims, because the whole story reads like a poorly written soap opera.

Sent from my GT-I9003

[animatic]

Yeah right... the drug lords held a grudge from 9 years ago.

Nopadom should be renamed Rope-a-Dope.

Thaksin pissed off many more people IN Thailand than out,

and he has no shortage of blood feud enemies to go around.

[animatic]

Well I think it is just a sign of his paranoia.

He is 100% convinced there is a bullet in Thailand with his name on it.

Gee I wonder why he would think that with all the things he has done for Thailand.

He would be foolish not to.

[Globeman]

I remember an event back in - I think - 2003 when Thaksin was about to board an airplane in Bangkok. Shortly before Thaksin was to board the plane, the galley (kitchen) in the plane caught fire. Thaksin was quick in using this incident for his own purposes claiming that this was a bomb placed in the plane and he knew who was behind the attempt to kill him.

Further investigation showed that there was no bomb and no plot. But, hey, Thaksin knew who was behind it.

Now here, Chalerm claimed to know who was behind the plot. Why was nobody arrested if the government knew about it and who was behind it? Incompetence or plain liars? (Or both?)

Actually, that incident, which took place in March 2001, (a few months after Thaksin was elected) was far more fishy... it wasn't a kitchen fire, it was an explosion... there are many sources to back this but this is a good start - the article was written more than seven weeks after the explosion http://articles.cnn.com/2001-04-26/us/737.fuel.pumps_1_tank-explosion-fuel-tank-fuel-pumps?_s=PM:US They never did determine the cause for certain. I don't know where you got this galley fire notion - galley fires don't usually kill crew members.

Edited November 13, 2012 by Globeman

[waza]

I'm guessing that not enough supporters made the trek to meet him (appease his ego), so this whole idea was invented to get him out of it. Did he apologies to those who made the trek?

It was also reported that the Burmese authorities were less than enthusiastic about the prospect of red rabble flooding its border town.

Its also rumour that Jatuporn was planning to protest in person about being overlooked for a cabinet position.

[Buchholz]

I remember an event back in - I think - 2003 when Thaksin was about to board an airplane in Bangkok. Shortly before Thaksin was to board the plane, the galley (kitchen) in the plane caught fire. Thaksin was quick in using this incident for his own purposes claiming that this was a bomb placed in the plane and he knew who was behind the attempt to kill him.

Further investigation showed that there was no bomb and no plot. But, hey, Thaksin knew who was behind it.

Now here, Chalerm claimed to know who was behind the plot. Why was nobody arrested if the government knew about it and who was behind it? Incompetence or plain liars? (Or both?)

Actually, that incident, which took place in March 2001, (a few months after Thaksin was elected) was far more fishy... it wasn't a kitchen fire, it was an explosion... there are many sources to back this but this is a good start - the article was written more than seven weeks after the explosion http://articles.cnn....?_s=PM:US They never did determine the cause for certain.

Post # 15 link contains the explanation through its 19 news articles and Boeing reports in one place.

by the way, it was NOT from what Police Lieutenant-Colonel Doctor Prime Minister Thaksin and the police said at the time.

From the link of multiple articles in Post # 15:

Thaksin said the device - which police have said was made with C4 plastic explosives - was a time bomb planted in the cargo area somewhere under seat rows 34 and 35 of the economy class. One crew member was killed and seven staff who were injured.

.

Edited November 13, 2012 by Buchholz

[waza]

This government is 1 big lie. Everybody lies non-stop and the biggest liar is the DPM in charge of the Royal Thai Police.

The entire administration is rotten to the core. What a mess.

Dear Yingluck, how long can you keep on fooling people with your pretty face.. just amazing.

Yes very pretty face..........

Edited November 13, 2012 by waza

[looping]

I actually hope that T isn't assassinated because he would probably become a martyr. Best way to go is a humiliating defeat in court showing the undeniable truth about how he steals food from the very mouths he pretends to serve. YL would of course have to be implicated too, as well as his children, and his extended family. Shouldn't be too hard, in theory. If he's assassinated, his family could end up even stronger.

[OzMick]

I actually hope that T isn't assassinated because he would probably become a martyr. Best way to go is a humiliating defeat in court showing the undeniable truth about how he steals food from the very mouths he pretends to serve. YL would of course have to be implicated too, as well as his children, and his extended family. Shouldn't be too hard, in theory. If he's assassinated, his family could end up even stronger.

I would be prepared to take the risk, though waiting for the next big family gathering would be a good idea. Invite Chalerm and family as well.

Remember "With Six You Get Eggroll."

[Stradavarius37]

This government is 1 big lie. Everybody lies non-stop and the biggest liar is the DPM in charge of the Royal Thai Police.

The entire administration is rotten to the core. What a mess.

Dear Yingluck, how long can you keep on fooling people with your pretty face.. just amazing.

One year and counting with no end in sight. Get used to it lol.

[metisdead]

YAWN!

Is not a valid contribution, nobody is forcing you to read this topic, if it is not of interest to you, move along and find something that interests you rather than post nonsense such as this.

[tawonsri]

hohoho ... any surprised about his fake?

BTW, when catching a criminal on the run it might happen he will be shot - when not cooperating with law enforcement groups properly.

Quite common in US and LOS