UK envoy's support for activists 'disappointing'

A DEPUTY government spokesman expressed disappointment yesterday about the position taken by a foreign diplomat who voiced support for a student group seeking to travel to Rajabhakti Park in Prachuap Khiri Khan on Monday.
Maj-General Werachon Sukond-hapatipak told a LINE group of reporters at Government House it was disappointing that “the ambassador” took a position that ended up supporting a group that has often broken the law and disrespected judicial processes, unlike the majority of the people.
Asked by The Nation whom he was referring to, the deputy spokesman declined to say. Werachon said the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) “regrets that this happened”, adding that this issue has been discussed with every envoy.
On Monday, students were removed from a train en route to the park in a bid to highlight graft at the project.
British Ambassador to Thailand Mark Kent tweeted on Monday: “I had hoped the fact that 200 people [being] allowed to demonstrate at the US Embassy might be relaxation on freedom of assembly”.
This appeared to refer to a small rally late last month against US Ambassador Glyn Davies for his criticism of harsh penalties under the lese majeste law, but was voiced when the students were heading to the Army park in Hua Hin.
Werachon said if there were violent clashes during the upcoming election, then everyone should take responsibility for escalating tensions. He said so far every effort had been taken to move the country towards an election, but the diplomats’ behaviour could encourage lawbreakers to further damage the country.
“Whose interest is this for? Every action taken is for the benefit of national interest, as well as the interests of our foreign friends,” he said.
Werachon said the military had prevented the group from proceeding with the trip because there were two opposing groups involved.
The deputy spokesman claimed there was also a group that detests the red shirts and Pheu Thai Party, so there was the risk of a confrontation between political rivals.
At the same time, some Pheu Thai members had tried to provoke authorities to arrest them – hoping some foreigners would misconstrue the situation.
This, he said, has been an ongoing predicament for the NCPO while moving the country towards a democracy and a general election.
In light of this, the protesters were restrained in order to stop escalating tensions. Werachon said it was hoped other ambassadors would be able to see that if the two opposing sides cannot be prevented from clashing, then the referendum and election could prove chaotic and problematic, and thus, reproach would be directed towards the NCPO.
The Nation contacted Ambassador Kent, to seek a response in regard to the deputy spokesman’s remarks, but he declined, and simply responded to what he had said on Twitter.
“I think my tweet is clear. I was making an observation. It is of course for the Thai authorities to administer the country as they see fit. I hope they do so in accordance with their international obligations, as the EU has previously stated,” the ambassador replied.
Meanwhile, Amnesty Internation-al, the international rights organisation, voiced opposition to the Thai military’s powers of arbitrary detention, after the students were detained.
The group said on its website the arrest of 37 activists in Thailand ahead of a planned anti-corruption protest was the latest evidence that the country’s military government was using arbitrary powers of detention to silence peaceful activism.
“These heavy-handed and completely unjustifiable arrests highlight Thailand’s need to remove the military’s powers of arbitrary detention, which are being used to harass and criminalise peaceful dissent,” said Champa Patel, Amnesty International’s Southeast Asia and Pacific regional office director.
She said the activists were detained for peacefully exercising their right to speak out against alleged corruption.
“The Thai authorities are also increasingly trampling on safeguards for detainees, which puts them at risk of further human rights violations such as torture and other ill-treatment,” she said, and urged that officials drop all charges of illegal political assembly and treason, laid against some of these activists for their role in peaceful protests earlier this year.