Many civil servants express their support for protesters

Some of them disagreed with the protesters’ street marches that caused severe traffic congestion but they regarded such a tactic as a necessary evil. They said they felt more comfortable with these protesters, when compared to the aggressive red-shirt protesters.

However, all of them spoke on condition of anonymity.

An official at the Public Health Ministry said that he blew a whistle in support of the protesters when they besieged the ministry compound on Wednesday. He said that he simply wanted to show that many bureaucrats disagreed with what this government was doing.

“The government should run the country transparently, and not for their own group. The attempt to issue an amnesty law shows that the government seriously lacks ethical values,” he said.

“It is said that state officials should be neutral. But in this case, it is clear that the fight is between good and bad. So it’s sensible to choose the right and the good,” the bureaucrat said.

An Interior Ministry official in the Northeastern province of Khon Kaen said many officials were frustrated with the government.

He called on his fellow bureaucrats to come out and join the protesters’ peaceful campaign for political changes. “This is unlikely to succeed in a short time. But at least it lets the government know that state officials in all ministries disagree with the way they are running the country.”

An official at the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security yesterday said she had joined many other ministry officials in blowing whistles in support of the protesters when they arrived at the ministry on Wednesday. She had wanted to join the protest against the controversial amnesty bill but was limited by her status as a civil servant. “As a civil servant, I work for the country, and not for politicians,” she said.

The official said many of her colleagues shared her view and that they were really frustrated with what the government had done over the amnesty bill.

Many officials at the Government Complex in Nonthaburi, which the protesters have occupied since Wednesday, yesterday backed the protesters’ cause.

A 35-year-old official at the Election Commission said she and her colleagues backed the protesters because she believed that what the government was doing was destructive to the country. She said the protesters’ occupation of the complex has not disrupted work at the Government Complex.

“Our support is not for any person in particular, but instead for the country that we love,” she said.

The complex houses more than 30 state agencies, with about 15,000 public officials.

A 30-year-old official of the Constitutional Court estimated that more than half of the officials at the complex backed the supporters and many even took part in the protest. He said that bureaucrats have the right to join the protest.

A 26-year-old official at the Auditor-General’s Office said street protests had caused negative impacts on the country, in addition to causing traffic congestion. However, he admitted that civil servants, like other groups of people, have the right to join such protests.

Civil Service Commission Secretary-General Nontigorn Kanchanachitra said yesterday state officials have the constitutional right to join protests but they also have to comply with the Civil Service Act, which requires that civil servants maintain political neutrality.

Jaruayporn Thoranin, a member of the CSC’s Merit System Protection Committee, said any civil servant found to be unfairly treated due to their political views may petition against any supervisor involved.