DSI chief is proving to be a powerful political tool

Now, during the time of this government, under Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, this very same Tarit is doing his best to crusade against the opposition Democrat Party.
The DSI chief appears to be the sort of civil servant who will serve his boss well and every government needs someone like him for political purposes. Of course, the DSI was created as a political tool from the very beginning.
Due to his active role against the red shirts, Tarit was expected to be the prime target for purging when Yingluck’s Pheu Thai Party took office last year. Yet he has survived.
It was former chief of the National Security Council, Thawil Pliensri, who ended up getting transferred to an inactive position when Yingluck took office.
As soon as she took over as premier, Tarit was clever enough to cut down the number of political cases in his hand from the 281 he had in 2010 during Abhisit Vejjajiva’s time to 48 cases last year and to just four cases this year.
He chose to drop several cases against members of the ruling Pheu Thai Party and the red shirts. In fact, even Yingluck benefited as Tarit chose to drop her asset concealment case.
A total of 39 red shirts found themselves off the hook as Tarit decided to throw away the lese majeste charges filed against them by the Democrat-run Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation during the red-shirt riots. DSI dropped its investigations after Tarit decided that there were no solid grounds to charge these people.
Former Pheu Thai MP and core red-shirt leader Jatuporn Promphan also found himself free of the lese majeste charge for a comment he made on stage during the red-shirt protest in April 2010.
Tarit obviously knows what he needs to do when the political wind changes.
He clearly understands the nature of Thai politics as well as his connection with all political factions, including those associated with former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra – who can be considered the real power behind this government.
Previously, many people saw him working alongside Democrat Suthep, but he also maintained a great friendship with former PM Somchai Wongsawat since the latter’s time as permanent secretary for the Justice Ministry.
In fact, Tarit was the person who helped Somchai set up the DSI under the jurisdiction of the Justice Ministry when Thaksin was in office.
It is rumoured that Tarit has managed to get into direct contact with Thaksin, and apparently it’s not good news for the Democrats because he is now focusing on several cases against the Democrat Party. He has at least three cases in hand against them.
The first case is the one related to irregularities in a Skytrain contract that the Democrat-led Bangkok Metropolitan Administration extended to the Bangkok Mass Transit System Company.
The second case is related to a donation that the state-run Eastern Water made to the Democrat Party for flood relief last year. State-run enterprises are prohibited by law to donate money to political parties.
The last one concerns a conflict of interest case in connection with the former deputy interior minister Thaworn Senneam’s and Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Palibatra’s involvement in a decision that benefited a shopping mall in Bang Khae.
With these cases in hand, Tarit has now become a powerful weapon against the opposition. This government obviously remembers the pain Tarit caused them when they were the opposition, and maybe they can use him to cause the same level of pain to the Democrats.