Former top military brass calls PM to resign, back reform

BANGKOK: -- The former commanders-in-chief of the Army, Air Force and Navy today called on caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to step down to pave the way for peaceful reform of the country as called for by the people.

The retired commanders-in-chief also called on the current top military brass to come out and stand by the side of the Monarch and of the people immediately to prevent bloodshed before the rising political tension is kept out of hand.

The strong issuance of the announcement of the former commander-in-chief of the Air Force ACM Gun Pimarnthip, former commander-in-chief of the Army Gen Wimol Wongwanich, and former commander-in-chief of the Navy Admiral Viches Karunyavanich came as the permanent secretary for Defense Gen Nipat Thonglek claimed at the government-sponsored reform forum yesterday that the Armed Forces and commanders-in-chief of the Air Force, Army and Navy back the February 2 general election.

In the letter to the permanent secretary for defense, commanders-in-chief of the three armed forces, the commissioner of the Royal Thai Police, the former military top brass who said they represented a group of retired military officers who have loyalty to the Monarch and adhere to constitutional democracy called on all commanders-in-chief of the armed forces to act and enable the reform of the country as called for by the people peacefully.

They said that the current political situation was unusual following the declaration by the Administration and the Legislative powers to reject the ruling of the Constitutional Court .

Such rejection of the judicial power brought about widespread confusion and political disturbances among the Thai people, and also led to violation of the Monarch on several occasions without stringent measures and actions by the government and relevant government agencies to stop such acts. As a consequence, they said, this led to the uprising of the people of several millions to protest the government. Such the deteriorating situation caused concern that it could lead to violence.

The retired top military brass who are loyal to the Monarch under the constitutional democracy agreed that it was timely now for the current commanders-in-chief who are the King’s and the people’s soldiers to come out to announce their stance to be on the side of the people.

They then called on prime minister, all cabinet ministers to step down from caretaker role, so that the private sector, government officials, academics and the people to proceed the reform of the country and bring the country out of the current crisis.

They said that the military has no need to stage a coup but they need to make their stance known to the public that they are on the side of the people.

At the end of the letter, the former commanders-in-chief of the three armed forces urged the current commanders-in-chief to act immediately before the deteriorating situation leads to bloodshed.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/former-top-military-brass-calls-pm-resign-back-reform/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=former-top-military-brass-calls-pm-resign-back-reform

-- Thai PBS 2013-12-16

And here we go. Now can understand more of who is backing Super Suthep... No wonder!

Those retired should stay retired. There will be bloodshed if what they said is taken seriously.

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Well done! There should be reform in this country. But knowing the Shinwatras, they will do anything to cling onto power. Even if it means tearing this country apart.

If Khun Gun is speaking out - then he must be upset

(Former)

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Those retired should stay retired. There will be bloodshed if what they said is taken seriously.

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The key word in this news is "retired".

Yet again as I have stated previously'' the end game is not yet over.'' Yet another set of player managers it would seem is joining the team in this current game.

Whether we like it or not it seems as if the idea of a group of non elected individuals from assorted backgrounds to reform the current system politically and constitutionally might well be the only peaceful way out of the current impasse.

The alternatives are what ? A politically and socially divided society, a military coup, a despotic dictatorship of any political hue none of the aforementioned situations bodes well for Thailand nor its peoples

A ban on politicians of all parties for a two year period and a clean up of the corrupt practices may well be dramatic but as a spring cleaning exercise it is indeed well overdue.the concept of a Thailand run by a National Government without any political bias seems increasingly more viable if we are to see peace.

As a condition of a National Government none of the current politicians should be involved in the administration whether they be saint or sinner in whosoever eyes..

I suggest we all let our wives run the show as they ( the wives) are always right . Well in our house that's the case.

Those retired should stay retired. There will be bloodshed if what they said is taken seriously.

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The key word in this news is "retired".

Politicians and ex military may 'retire' officially from the government but that doesn't mean they don't hold immense behind the scenes power. I'd take seriously what these people say.

And here we go. Now can understand more of who is backing Super Suthep... No wonder!

They no backing him, they backing the movement for reforms!

Anyone know what roles these retirees had during the previous few rounds of protests and political mayhem?

Ok, thats good news, let us be prepared for the party...

Sending out a message that the army, in fact, are not 100% behind the election before reform as incorrectly stated in Sunday by the Defense secretary who was actually speaking on behalf of Thaksin and not the military. So there is your answer to people meddling!

Those retired should stay retired. There will be bloodshed if what they said is taken seriously.

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The key word in this news is "retired".

Politicians and ex military may 'retire' officially from the government but that doesn't mean they don't hold immense behind the scenes power. I'd take seriously what these people say.

Exactly. You can consider these words (yet anotehr) as a 'shot across the bow' from the armed forces.

I wonder how long before the government gets it?

Those retired should stay retired. There will be bloodshed if what they said is taken seriously.

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There will be bloodshed if they are not taken seriously!

What they have said seems perfectly reasonable, they are not calling on the generals to make a coup. They recognise that if PTP cling to power no matter what, then there will be bloodshed. PTP's rejection of the costitutional court is gainst the democratic system, so hardly fit people to lead constitutional reform in the future!

Maybe, it's too late, maybe there will be bloodshed regardless.

Quite interesting..... the serving 'top brass' feels quite rightly that it cannot come out and overtly support either one facation or the other, but there is nothing to stop retired 'top brass' from doing so. No-one should be naive enough to believe that there is no serious linkage between those serving and those retired. I reckn the writing is on the wall for the Sinawatras.

Anyone know what roles these retirees had during the previous few rounds of protests and political mayhem?

Circa 1992...

Wow, loud and clear message, what's next?

It is hard to say how many high officials have been corrupted by Thaksin but having these men come out and announce the violations of the present government is a big boost to Mr Suthep .

Well done

Quite interesting..... the serving 'top brass' feels quite rightly that it cannot come out and overtly support either one facation or the other, but there is nothing to stop retired 'top brass' from doing so. No-one should be naive enough to believe that there is no serious linkage between those serving and those retired. I reckn the writing is on the wall for the Sinawatras.

No, it means nothing. The REAL top brass has spoken. They will not let this descend into bloodshed and chaos, nor will they prejudice the international relationships of the country to satisfy the old guard's desires. Let the old boys have their five minutes back in the spotlight, sure...but that's as far as it will go

Ministry of Defence has brushed it off...

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Defence-permanent-secretary-dismisses-call-of-thre-30222220.html

Contrary to many of the other comments I suspect the writing is on the wall in 2014 for these tin-pot generals and other supporters of the mouth from the south. The majority of the country and certainly 70% of the forces have no wish to put the clock back 70 years. Throw in the Shinawatras and their wealthy partners money and pop. Unfortunately it looks like there will be a lot of blood letting next year. Good news is the baht will take a hammering.

Quite interesting..... the serving 'top brass' feels quite rightly that it cannot come out and overtly support either one facation or the other, but there is nothing to stop retired 'top brass' from doing so. No-one should be naive enough to believe that there is no serious linkage between those serving and those retired. I reckn the writing is on the wall for the Sinawatras.

No, it means nothing. The REAL top brass has spoken. They will not let this descend into bloodshed and chaos, nor will they prejudice the international relationships of the country to satisfy the old guard's desires. Let the old boys have their five minutes back in the spotlight, sure...but that's as far as it will go

You and the Shinawatras wish!

Anyone know what roles these retirees had during the previous few rounds of protests and political mayhem?

Sponsors?

Quite interesting..... the serving 'top brass' feels quite rightly that it cannot come out and overtly support either one facation or the other, but there is nothing to stop retired 'top brass' from doing so. No-one should be naive enough to believe that there is no serious linkage between those serving and those retired. I reckn the writing is on the wall for the Sinawatras.

No, it means nothing. The REAL top brass has spoken. They will not let this descend into bloodshed and chaos, nor will they prejudice the international relationships of the country to satisfy the old guard's desires. Let the old boys have their five minutes back in the spotlight, sure...but that's as far as it will go

You and the Shinawatras wish!

I couldn't care less what the Shinawatras want. I would prefer a national unity govt but it's very hard to see any credible candidates from the opposition to join such a thing. Mr Suthep hasn't mentioned a single name despite announcing a while back that the preferred PM has been found.

And here we go. Now can understand more of who is backing Super Suthep... No wonder!

This has been known for sometime. It is why I have written that this is not about politics.

When you think of wealth in Thailand, it isn't in the military. The military is where the "high So's" want to keep their sons out of.

Clearly, there are a lot more in support than just these few.

Quite interesting..... the serving 'top brass' feels quite rightly that it cannot come out and overtly support either one facation or the other, but there is nothing to stop retired 'top brass' from doing so. No-one should be naive enough to believe that there is no serious linkage between those serving and those retired. I reckn the writing is on the wall for the Sinawatras.

No, it means nothing. The REAL top brass has spoken. They will not let this descend into bloodshed and chaos, nor will they prejudice the international relationships of the country to satisfy the old guard's desires. Let the old boys have their five minutes back in the spotlight, sure...but that's as far as it will go

You and the Shinawatras wish!

I couldn't care less what the Shinawatras want. I would prefer a national unity govt but it's very hard to see any credible candidates from the opposition to join such a thing. Mr Suthep hasn't mentioned a single name despite announcing a while back that the preferred PM has been found.

Prbkk, there are several lists that have been floating around. Read Shawn Crispin's last article on atimesonline for his list.

Quite interesting..... the serving 'top brass' feels quite rightly that it cannot come out and overtly support either one facation or the other, but there is nothing to stop retired 'top brass' from doing so. No-one should be naive enough to believe that there is no serious linkage between those serving and those retired. I reckn the writing is on the wall for the Sinawatras.

No, it means nothing. The REAL top brass has spoken. They will not let this descend into bloodshed and chaos, nor will they prejudice the international relationships of the country to satisfy the old guard's desires. Let the old boys have their five minutes back in the spotlight, sure...but that's as far as it will go

You reckon?

I think that is just you and your wishful thinking. Everyone on here knows your opinions, and I didn't really have to read your post to know what it was going to say and I was dead right. You have become very predictable, and quite frankly, predictable posting on any forum means 'boring!'.

If you think for a second that any of the current top brass give so much as a flying f*** for international relationships, you harbour another massive error of judgement.

The end is coming very soon, and it will just take one more spark of violent confrontation between protesters and whoever, and that will be it.

It seems even some of the most conservative members of Thai society agree with the PM that political reform is needed. Is it surprising that they don't trust her brother's puppet to carry them out?

Quite interesting..... the serving 'top brass' feels quite rightly that it cannot come out and overtly support either one facation or the other, but there is nothing to stop retired 'top brass' from doing so. No-one should be naive enough to believe that there is no serious linkage between those serving and those retired. I reckn the writing is on the wall for the Sinawatras.

No, it means nothing. The REAL top brass has spoken. They will not let this descend into bloodshed and chaos, nor will they prejudice the international relationships of the country to satisfy the old guard's desires. Let the old boys have their five minutes back in the spotlight, sure...but that's as far as it will go

You reckon?

I think that is just you and your wishful thinking. Everyone on here knows your opinions, and I didn't really have to read your post to know what it was going to say and I was dead right. You have become very predictable, and quite frankly, predictable posting on any forum means 'boring!'.

If you think for a second that any of the current top brass give so much as a flying f*** for international relationships, you harbour another massive error of judgement.

The end is coming very soon, and it will just take one more spark of violent confrontation between protesters and whoever, and that will be it.

summary: disagreeing with anything you believe is boring, predictable, wrong. Yes, Suthep is your guy...