Sondhi conviction ‘won’t hurt people power’

THE ABSENCE of convicted media magnate Sondhi Limthongkul, who once successfully mobilised hundreds of thousands of yellow-shirt protesters to oust one of the country’s most powerful prime ministers, might not have implications for future political movements because the public has become more politically mature and no longer needs particular leaders to spur protests, analysts have said. 

The Supreme Court sentenced Sondhi, 68, on Tuesday to 20 years in prison for forging corporate documents in 1997, which violated the Securities and Exchange Act. 

The conviction has spurred a series of conversations among political observers. However, the harsh sentence has done little to unnerve Sondhi followers who joined his group under the now-defunct People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), commonly known as the “yellow shirts” in 2006 when they staged street protests to remove former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

“Over the last 10 years, Thai people have learned about and been aware of political movements. And now or in the future, they will join protests because of their strong faith in the power of the people to fight against state irregularities and corruption, rather than follow any figures who dominate or hire them,” Thammasat University political scientist Prajak Kongkirati said.

He added that even though Sondhi would not be able to mobilise anti-Thaksin demonstrators while he is in jail, a new leader would appear if there is a “critical situation”, such as the abuse of power by leaders or a dictatorship. 

Prior to the 2006 coup, Sondhi, the founder of Manager Media Group, along with fellow PAD leaders exposed huge irregularities and corruption scandals linked to the Thaksin government, which was dubbed the “Thaksin regime”. 

Sondhi drew hundreds of thousands of demonstrators nationwide to stage anti-Thaksin rallies, which led to the 2006 coup that toppled the government. Then in 2008, the PAD shut down Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport in protest against the government of Thaksin’s brother-in-law, Somchai Wongsawat. In 2013, the PAD dissolved itself, signalling an end to its mission. 

“The yellow shirts became supporters of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee [PDRC] or the Democrat Party, as the three groups have the common enemy, which is the Thaksin regime. There is a blurred line between these three groups of supporters,” Prajak said.

Suriyasai Katasila, a former key PAD figure and political scientist at Rangsit University, said future political movements would not require traditional leaders to mobilise protesters on the streets because of the power of social media. 

“People can gather in another, different form of demonstration. They can use social media for future political movements,” he said. 

Even though Sondhi would be absent for at least several years, former PAD members would still have their own ways to fight irregularities, Suriyasai said.

He added that PAD supporters included various activist groups. Although yellow shirt protesters did not continue to take action under the PAD umbrella, they were still active in their own groups fighting for issues they were interested in such as the environment and opposing corruption, Suriyasai said. 

Former members have kept in touch because they were deeply engaged with leaders and their relationship was more like a family rather than protest leaders and followers, the former PAD leader said. 

Regarding pending lawsuits against Sondhi and other PAD leaders, including a civil case in which Airports of Thailand has pressed for more than Bt500 million in compensation for damages inflicted during the airport shutdown, the remaining leaders involved would continue fighting the cases without Sondhi's support, he said. 

He added that Sondhi had prepared himself for the sentence and had not panicked, and that he believed that Sondhi could endure the prison term because of his peace of mind.

Pheu Thai former MP Watana Muangsoook said he believed future street protests were unlikely to take place because people have learned that political unrest leads to coups and military regimes, including in 2014 when military leaders led by the current Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha deposed the government of Thaksin’s sister Yingluck Shinawatra. 

Watana said he felt sympathy for Sondhi, although his party has been in conflict with him in the past.