'Army infighting caused deaths'
Play
A group of academics claimed yesterday that conflicts between Army factions led to the fighting and high casualties during the red-shirt protests in 2010.
The group, calling itself the Information Centre of People Affected by the Crackdowns on Demonstrations in April-May 2010, presented its 933-page draft report on the political unrest in 2010 at a press conference at Thammasat University.
A source from the academics, who are seen as supporting the red-shirt movement, said the wording needed to be polished before the final report would be released.
Banthit Chanrojanakij, a political science lecturer and a former member of a committee of the Truth for Reconciliation Commission of Thailand (TRCT), said the conflicts had developed and culminated in the fighting at Kokwua Intersection on April 10, 2010 and the shootings and killings of some Army officers at the National Memorial later.
The Army claimed that unknown armed “men in black” were responsible for the shootings at the demonstrators and the troops at Kokwua Intersection and for other incidents.
According to the report, as seen by The Nation, not all the killings at Kokwua Intersection were committed by the “men in black” as claimed by the then Democrat government.
Conflicts between two groups of Army officers were also blamed for the killing of Colonel Romklao Thuwatham, who was in charge of the operation at Kokwua Intersection.
Puangthong Phawakkaraphan, a political science lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, said her centre needed to conduct its research in parallel with the TRCT’s investigation because the TRCT showed no progress in its study.
She said the TRCT had neglected to find out whether the authorities had violated the rights of the demonstrators so the centre would do its best to uncover the truth and make it known to the public.
