Military to decide on red bowls case
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Nan - The military would decide whether to file charges against 3 former Pheu Thai MPs for their possession of red bowls, said Pol Col Prayoon Chamnankong, chief commander in the northern province.
Thai authorities yesterday confiscated thousands of red bowls bearing a message from former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Three different messages were printed on the side of the bowls. One reads: "The situation may be hot, but brothers and sisters may gain coolness from the water inside this bucket."
The red bowls were supposed to be distributed ahead of the Songkran festival.
Prayoon said that the three politicians did not breach any law as the red bowls were not distributed yet. However, it remains to be investigated if their action was aimed at communicating political message and logo to instigate political disturbance.
The seizure followed the arrest last week of a woman seen posing with one of the bowls in photos on social media. She has been charged with sedition, a move described by a rights group as absurd. The woman arrested last week could be jailed for up to seven years if convicted of sedition.
Prayoon told AFP that 5,800 red bowls were seized. He said: "If we allow these bowls to be distributed, it could benefit some political parties or result in losses to others."
"The Thai junta's fears of a red plastic bowl show its intolerance of dissent has reached the point of absolute absurdity," said Brad Adams, Human Rights Watch's Asia director.
The junta has outlawed all political activities, pledging to heal the kingdom's bitter divides.
But critics say the generals are chiefly bent on crippling the Shinawatra clan, who are wildly popular with their rural supporters in the north and east but hated by the Bangkok-centric military and royalist elite.
