Khon Kaen red in trouble over 3-finger salute
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Face 'attitude adjustment' after her 'anti-NCPO' gesture in pic with Yingluck.
A RED-SHIRT leader in Khon Kaen will be summoned to “adjust her attitude” after she raised three fingers in an anti-coup gesture while taking a picture with ex-PM Yingluck Shinawatra, an official said yesterday.
The red-shirt leader known as “Pa Was Mai Khon” was seen on Sunday taking the picture with Yingluck when she visited a plant fair in Khon Kaen. Security officials said the red-shirt leader’s three-finger salute was an expression of opposition against the National Council for Peace and Order.
Meanwhile, Piyachai Nachai, 72 and Orathai Phosri, 42, two other red shirts in Khon Kaen, were summoned to the Sripatcharin military camp yesterday, as they were believed to have distributed calendars with pictures of Yingluck and her fugitive brother, the former PM Thaksin.
The move came after Yingluck and former Pheu Thai Party MPs visited temples and locals in Khon Kaen’s Ban Pai district on Monday during the New Year long weekend in the Northeast.
Security officials seized over 10 calendars from Yingluck while she was having breakfast with supporters and signing autographs on the calendars.
Colonel Somchai Kanpachai, deputy commander of 23rd Military Circle, said people have the right to distribute the calendars but not at public or official functions or meetings.
He said Yingluck’s signing autographs on the calendars was inappropriate because it looked like she was trying to raise her profile or popularity by carrying out such activities in public places.
“We do not want this as it may lead to political conflicts,’’ he said.
Piyachai said she received 20 calendars from an ex MP and distributed them to people who she was acquainted with. She said she had no intention to cause political conflict.
Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, meanwhile, questioned yesterday whether it was appropriate for “the fugitive” to distribute calendars with photos of him.
“I am not saying that distributing calendars is right or wrong,” Prayut said during a seven-minute briefing after a meeting of the Cabinet. “I am not politicising the issue,’’ he said. “If he thinks he did not commit any offence then he should have come back to the country.”
Shinawatra calendars ‘a political act’
The premier was responding to reports that more than 10 calendars decorated with photos of Thaksin and Yingluck were seized in Khon Kaen’s Ban Pai district on Monday.
The officers also stopped former Pheu Thai MPs from taking Yingluck to greet and give New Year gifts to villagers in the district.
On Sunday, Roi Et governor Anusorn Kaewkangwan instructed district |chiefs in the province to stop the |distribution of Shinawatra calendars, after 200 were allegedly given out by a political party coordinator before a meeting of local administrators last Wednesday.
“I am not blocking anyone. The security officials did what they had to because they knew an offence was committed,’’ Prayut said.
In response to Pheu Thai’s complaint to Prayut that Anusorn violated people’s rights and acted with discrimination, the premier said: “Why do I have to address the petition? Is it a picture of a person who broke the law in the calendars? Do you want these calendars to be distributed? I am not their enemy but I am doing my duty,” Prayut said.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister General Anupong Paochinda said that Anusorn stopped the calendars being given out on his own discretion because distributing them could be part of a political agenda.
Anupong said he personally believed the calendars could be given out if there was no political motive.
“We want the country to have political calmness. If any group wants to stir things up, we must have measures in place to ensure they can’t do it,’’ he said.
