Junta charge ex-police chief Sereepisuth over TV show

BANGKOK: FORMER national police chief Sereepisuth Temeeyaves has been charged along with seven others for allegedly creating public disorder and broadcasting without permission. The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) filed the complaint with police yesterday.

Military officers, led by Lt-Colonel Burin Thongprapai of the Judge Advocate-General's Office, raided Fahai TV in Nontahburi's Pak Kret district on Wednesday.

The action followed the station's broadcast of the Sereepisuth-hosted "Seree Voice", a TV show the officers allege contained content in which Sereepisuth threatened national security by creating public disorder. The officers said the station was unlicensed.

The complaints were filed against eight people, including Fakhum Co, as the legal entity that owns the station.

Pol Lt-General Sigh Sighdech, an investigator for the Crime Suppression Division, said yesterday that seven of the eight had been released on Bt20,000 bail each. Sereepisuth did not report.

The station's owner Porntip Supannakul refused Sereepisuth's offer to post bail for her and her staff because she wanted to prove she was not connected to him.

Police will seek an arrest warrant for Sereepisuth, who was yet to meet with a lawyer yesterday.

Meanwhile, at least eight academics linked to issuing a statement last month in which they declared "universities are not barracks" will be summoned by police, Chiang Mai University humanities professor Attachak Satayanurak told the press.

A professor from Silpakorn University had received a summons, Attachak said, despite having nothing to do with the action.

The development came after the Midnight University website published police summons that it claimed were for Attachak and other academics involved in the action. The website said the summons were issued because the academics had allegedly violated the junta's ban on political gatherings of more than four people.

Attachak said the summons must have been the result of the press conference and the statement, which was supported by lecturers from different universities.

Attachak said that the action was done to counter criticism that universities were a breeding ground for forces against the government.

He said a judge advocate had pressed charges against those involved in it.

Silpakorn University philosophy lecturer Kongkrit Traiyawong received a summons but had played no part in the press conference and the statement, he said.

Attachak said he had explained that to police, who told him at least eight academics would be summoned.

They include himself and Somchai Prichasilpakul, a law professor from Chiang Mai University.

Attachak said he was not worried about being summoned because he had a responsibility to give society academic viewpoints, even if that resulted in him being jailed.

Addressing the issue of freedom under the "Universities are not Barracks" campaign was part of his job as an academic, he said.

On his Facebook page, Kongkrit wrote: "Attachak is an academic with a high spirit. He is very brave."

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Junta-charge-ex-police-chief-Sereepisuth-over-TV-s-30273430.html

-- The Nation 2015-11-21

20k for bail??? Why bother.........

And there are still those who doubt Thailand has descended into a hellish madness?

Dark days for this country. It's very sad to see such oppression.

He should have just taken over the country. Apparently that is acceptable but telling the truth is not.

No one, apparantly, is now allowed to express an opinion, unless, of course, it is pro junta.

I have to wonder how much longer ThaiVisa can last.

I just see no good coming out of this junta. None at all. Not even any reforms (unless you count the price of lottery tickets). Now they are even whitewashing their own in a very public way.

Sad times ahead for Thailand.

Signs of weakness.

When the military government would seriously and intensively be busy with the 'changes and reforms'' job, like it had promised it to the Thai population in May last year, in an honest and transparent way, so also fighting against corruption and graft among the military and police, then, this story with Gen Sereepisuth and Fahai TV could have just been wiped away as being 'politically motivated', what it probably is, considering the background and 'location' of the ones involved!

But, the formal denial of any wrong within the army, in this (money-wise 'small') case about that park in Hua-Hin, while 'suspect' (to say the least) things were discovered, and made public, by police as well as army sources, is, in a normal reaction, making from Sereepisuth and the UDD loudmouth kind of the 'whistleblowers' coming up for Justice (what, let me repeat it, they are not, IMO).

Also called " The Freedom of Speech."

A baiting nonsense post has been removed.

Dark days for this country. It's very sad to see such oppression.

It was a TV show called "This was my life" and he gave away to many secrets from his working years. Next step a book called " I could not resist the temptation to speak" Result he was retired tooo long and forgot how the old boys network worked.

Even before we factor in the circus, there is the Thai cultural tendency to view any form of criticism as negative, even if it is heavily evident as constructive criticism and not just criticism for criticism sake. Layer onto that the circus's particular ethos, and you have no space to move. Let's hope for strong balanced voices to keep an ember or two glowing.

The police toes the line with the junta as all their business are still operating at maximum revenues. Have not heard lately any casino got raided and a casino that has operated on Sukhumvit Soi 18 for the past 8 years is still operating from 2pm - 3am in the morning.

Also called " The Freedom of Speech."

‘Freedom of speech’ – for the junta that’s just one of those oxymorons isn’t it (like their ‘honest use of force’ quip).

While we are on the subject of oxymorons, a few that come to mind when I think of the junta and their performance include:

army intelligence; accidently on purpose; accurate rumours;

balanced insanity; benevolent despot;

chaotic organisation; crazy wisdom;

dark light;

insane logic;

legitimate politics;

objective ranting; orderly confusion.

The more this military leadership tries to suppress opposition...the larger the opposition forces will become...if democracy...or something similar does not envelop the country soon...the much dreaded civil unrest will likely rare its evil head again...

One would be wise to store a few baht and food stores for any unexpected shutdown of commerce due to widespread civil disobedience...

Was he on updated Thai version of old American show "I've got a secret"?

The is some scary kee.

"Meanwhile, at least eight academics linked to issuing a statement last month in which they declared "universities are not barracks" will be summoned by police, Chiang Mai University humanities professor Attachak Satayanurak told the press."

Apparently they were wrong, universities are now barracks.

Appears anything not pro-junta can be construed as inciting unrest. I sure hope those professors are okay as they are the only hope Thailand has.

Government reform often starts at the universities or "breeding grounds" as they put it. There's an obvious reason for that.

to the professors/lecturers and others that are standing up and speaking out, I applaud you.

In these days with social media it can really take off and get out of control for the junta.

It would not be unreasonable to believe the people will take only so much oppression before they begin speaking out. As they speak out the oppression will come and the so the snow effect occurs... and then?

I suppose we will still get the Junta Lovin' loonies saying it's all in the 'best interests' of Thailand? what a brave officer to speak up and thank God there are still some academics with ethics

I suppose we will still get the Junta Lovin' loonies saying it's all in the 'best interests' of Thailand? what a brave officer to speak up and thank God there are still some academics with ethics

I think that there were many many decent Thais who welcomed military intervention after the political chaos under the last government.A compelling case can of course be made that the military and their backers were largely responible for destabilising democracy in the first place.But let that pass for now.

It's now clear that the current government is the worst for several decades - illegitimate, incompetent, corrupt, arrogant, sublimely stupid.Far worse than the government it ejected, flawed as that government certainly was.

As a consequence we can see opposition being made manifest in the most likely places.The remnants of the PTP are largely silent but we are now seeing trenchant and devastating criticism from quarters that - in the crude langiage of RWNJs on this forum - cannot conceivably be seen as "in the pay of Thaksin".

An example is the new tone from the Bangkok Post, a major warrior in the battle against the Shinawatras, which in the last couple of weeks has issued some extremely critical opinion pieces of the Junta.

For the government this presents a challenge.It can either grudgingly permit greater freedom of expression and thus permit ridicule and further exposure of its weaknesses.Or it can foilow its instincts and clamp down further - and thus set in motion a process likely to undermine all its stated objectives.

Tricky.

This gentleman is basically an influential & important royalist, yellow shirt who was supportive of the 2014 coup.

His "crime" is the fact that he called out the military for the corruption on the park development project.

The dinosaurs in power are quite thin-skinned, even (or especially) when one of their own starts to criticize...

I suppose we will still get the Junta Lovin' loonies saying it's all in the 'best interests' of Thailand? what a brave officer to speak up and thank God there are still some academics with ethics

I think that there were many many decent Thais who welcomed military intervention after the political chaos under the last government.A compelling case can of course be made that the military and their backers were largely responible for destabilising democracy in the first place.But let that pass for now.

It's now clear that the current government is the worst for several decades - illegitimate, incompetent, corrupt, arrogant, sublimely stupid.Far worse than the government it ejected, flawed as that government certainly was.

As a consequence we can see opposition being made manifest in the most likely places.The remnants of the PTP are largely silent but we are now seeing trenchant and devastating criticism from quarters that - in the crude langiage of RWNJs on this forum - cannot conceivably be seen as "in the pay of Thaksin".

An example is the new tone from the Bangkok Post, a major warrior in the battle against the Shinawatras, which in the last couple of weeks has issued some extremely critical opinion pieces of the Junta.

For the government this presents a challenge.It can either grudgingly permit greater freedom of expression and thus permit ridicule and further exposure of its weaknesses.Or it can foilow its instincts and clamp down further - and thus set in motion a process likely to undermine all its stated objectives.

Tricky.

whenever you suppress your opposition, you breed new opposition. It is the nature of the game and the weakness of military governments.

Where elected governments can permit, even encourage, a discussion and debate in order to win the support of their ideas and then face voters in an election, this is, due to the nature of all military "governments", not a viable alternative. Force and coercion are the only tools available, and suppression is the only viable tactic for military regimes. This explains why long-lasting military regimes are so brutal.

I suppose we will still get the Junta Lovin' loonies saying it's all in the 'best interests' of Thailand? what a brave officer to speak up and thank God there are still some academics with ethics

I think that there were many many decent Thais who welcomed military intervention after the political chaos under the last government.A compelling case can of course be made that the military and their backers were largely responible for destabilising democracy in the first place.But let that pass for now.

It's now clear that the current government is the worst for several decades - illegitimate, incompetent, corrupt, arrogant, sublimely stupid.Far worse than the government it ejected, flawed as that government certainly was.

As a consequence we can see opposition being made manifest in the most likely places.The remnants of the PTP are largely silent but we are now seeing trenchant and devastating criticism from quarters that - in the crude langiage of RWNJs on this forum - cannot conceivably be seen as "in the pay of Thaksin".

An example is the new tone from the Bangkok Post, a major warrior in the battle against the Shinawatras, which in the last couple of weeks has issued some extremely critical opinion pieces of the Junta.

For the government this presents a challenge.It can either grudgingly permit greater freedom of expression and thus permit ridicule and further exposure of its weaknesses.Or it can foilow its instincts and clamp down further - and thus set in motion a process likely to undermine all its stated objectives.

Tricky.

whenever you suppress your opposition, you breed new opposition. It is the nature of the game and the weakness of military governments.

Where elected governments can permit, even encourage, a discussion and debate in order to win the support of their ideas and then face voters in an election, this is, due to the nature of all military "governments", not a viable alternative. Force and coercion are the only tools available, and suppression is the only viable tactic for military regimes. This explains why long-lasting military regimes are so brutal.

and then what happens? the US ambassador tells the truth from a western perspective!... and "dozens of nationalists" protest and "El Primo" says what in response? lmao! - sorry but you will have to man-up to play on the international stage unless you are a poser and just looking for any available scraps!