Democrat Kowit up in arms over Thawatchai remarks
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Former Democrat MP for Bangkok Kowit Tharana has demanded the government take responsibility for appointing General Thawatchai Samutsakorn as a National Reform Council member after the officer was quoted as saying two large political parties planned to br
“It is impossible that Pheu Thai and the Democrats would collude to do such a thing. We have different ideologies. The government must take responsibility for appointing Thawatchai,’’ he said.
Thawatchai was Second Army Region commander in charge of the red shirt zones, Kowit said.
“He must apologise for spreading false allegations,’’ the ex-MP said.
Kowit questioned whether the southern insurgency took place because a special budget had been allocated to the three southern border provinces and security personnel wanted the conflict to continue because they got paid extra.
“It is time that the government allocates funds through normal [parliament] procedures. If it has adopted the right policies, why is insurgency still rife and soldiers are being assaulted. The problem is that the state agencies and locals do not get along,’’ he said.
Watchara Petthong, another former Democrat MP, said he could not believe that a general like Thawatchai would behave like “the shepherd adult” (from the Iesop fable the “Shepherd Boy”) because the allegation was so serious it could cause the parties to be dissolved.
Watchara said it was not true that the two major parties had colluded to bring down the Prayut government but what was true was that two National Legislative Assembly members accused of corruption over the herbicide purchase were allowed to sit as members on the 2016 fiscal budget committee.
If the PM did not crack down on corrupt officials around him, the government’s anti-corruption policies would not succeed, he said.
Deputy National police chief Chakthip Chaijinda called on Thawatchai to identify which group of southern insurgents would stage attacks.
Chakthip said state intelligence believed the same group of insurgents was active and as the holy month of Ramadan is coming to a close, more insurgency activity is being reported.
