Daniel Pedersen

The Courier Mail

November 26, 2005

By Daniel Pedersen

Bangkok

THE Stock Exchange of Thailand was rocked this week by rumours of a looming coup d’etat against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s embattled Government.

His administration is under increasing pressure on all fronts.

It is fighting an out-of-control Muslim insurgency in the south, corruption scandals are dogging development of the country’s new international airport and a vocal critic is drawing thousands of people to open-air government-bashing sessions.

This week, one of Mr Thaksin’s top aides and a deputy transport minister, Phumtham Wechayachai, went public, insisting he could smell a coup brewing.

Thailand has a long history of military coups, but this time observers were sceptical to say the least, some going as far as to suggest the rumours were nothing more than government smokescreens.

But immediately after Mr Phumtham made public his coup claims, the tumble on the stock exchange began, with the market shedding almost 1 per cent in Tuesday afternoon trading.

It is yet to haul back its losses.

For weeks, Mr Thaksin’s most vocal critic, Manager Media publishing group proprietor Sondhi Limthongkul, has been drawing as many as 10,000 people each Friday to outdoor anti-Government rallies.

The crowds are growing, and if such gatherings are a barometer of public sentiment, the Government would not want to face an election just now.

Mr Phumtham said he feared someone could throw a bomb into the crowd during one of the rallies, and that could create a crisis beyond anybody’s control.

Mr Sondhi’s support base is built from his audience, people who read and listen religiously to his scathing attacks against Mr Thaksin.

One of Mr Sondhi’s latest allegations was that Mr Thaksin’s sister had used a military C-130 transport plane to fly people from Bangkok to the northern capital of Chiang Mai to attend her birthday party.

Since he first began challenging the Government, Mr Sondhi’s TV program has been axed and yesterday he faced multiple lawsuits at the hands of Mr Thaksin.

The show had been screened on a government-controlled, publicly-listed television station.

Mr Sondhi’s campaign comes against a backdrop of ever-tightening media restrictions, or what the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists describes as the political and financial interference, legal intimidation and coercion tactics employed by Mr Thaksin.

Mr Sondhi has been unrelenting, even as the lawsuits have piled up.

He is calling his audiences to inner-city Lumpini Park and the people are answering the call in their thousands.

Yesterday, there were 1200 police officers on hand to manage crowds.

Mr Sondhi has drawn the Government’s blood by exposing conflicts of interest and corruption scandals.

Web boards and internet chat forums are alive with political discussion.

People are waiting to see what Mr Sondhi does next.

Political observers on Thursday ventured that Mr Phumtham’s coup comments aimed to stop people attending Mr Sondhi’s rallies, by suggesting things might become violent.

Earlier this week, top military officers moved to subdue Mr Sondhi, drawing criticism.

Supreme Commander General Ruengroj Mahasaranond warned Mr Sondhi to stop invoking the monarchy in his allegations or face the military’s wrath.

But Mr Sondhi’s website, no longer gagged by Supreme Court order, receives about 120,000 visitors daily, according to a recent survey by Nielsen Media Research.

It showed the readership of Manager Daily, as well as the company’s website, almost doubled in August.

ENDS