Living up to his convictions

Anti-government protest leader and former Democrat MP Suthep Thaugsuban has called for one million people to turn out and join the Rajdamnoen rally today to decide the future of the Yingluck Shinawatra government. It’s a brave call and one that could well seal his fate.

If the number of demonstrators falls short of the million mark, the fight on the streets will inevitably come to an end.

The Surat Thani native started his career at the age of 26 as a village headman, albeit one with the rare qualification of a Master’s Degree in Political Science from Middle Tennessee State University in the US. That history has continued to precede him and even today, he’s still occasionally dubbed the “kamnan of tambon Tha Sathon”, a reference to the village in Phunphin district where he was born and raised.

Now 64 and with 35 careers of political experience to his credit, Suthep has been a Democrat MP for 12 consecutive terms, 10 of them as the member for Surat Thani. He’s also served twice as a party-list MP, and been a member of the cabinet on four occasions.

Deputy Prime Minister during the Abhisit Vejjajiva government from the end of 2008 to 2011, he says he realised his time in the House was running out when the Pheu Thai Party won the 2011 election.

“I realised that once the Yingluck government came to power, it would try to whitewash the wrongdoings of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. I prepared myself to move against that and when the amnesty bill was brought before parliament, I initiated ‘Reveal the Truth’ rallies in every one of the country's provinces,” he says,

The first of those rallies took place on August 7 while the House was deliberating the first reading of that amnesty bill under which Thaksin could return home a free man. He then waited for the bill to pass all three readings before “blowing a whistle” to launch the mass rally on October 31.

“I have never thought I would end my 35-year political career on the road. But once I decided to resign as an MP, I knew there could be no going back,” he says.

Regarded as a generous and dependable politician, he was nonetheless one of the reasons why former Democrat PM Chuan Leekpai was forced to dissolve the House in 1995 when Palang Dharma Party’s withdrew from the then government coalition before the censure debate vote.

At that time, Suthep was accused of helping the rich in Phuket obtain Sor Por Kor 4-01 documents for land intended for distribution to the poor. He later resigned from his post.

It is a stigma that he has been forced to carry ever since, though it didn’t stop him from achieving his goal of playing a supporting role in the rise to the premiership of Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva.

“I was so proud to do that. Abhisit is a politician who has faith in democracy and incorruptible. I knew many Thais wanted him to be a leader. So I put all my energy into supporting him,” he says.

Abhisit and Suthep, in his former capacity of deputy prime minister, are currently facing murder charges for ordering security forces to crack down on the 2010 protests, leading to the deaths of red-shirt protesters.

But Suthep says he isn’t feeling any pressure. “I will fight the bad guys through the legal process. I recently set up a new law firm, Patcharawit Advocates, that has 20 to 30 lawyers ready to defend my case as well as the officers who have been charged with murder in connection with their operations in 2010,” he says firmly.

But he admits that he has no idea about the outcome of the case, just as he really doesn’t know what will happen next. Right now, he just dresses in black and heads out from home every morning to the Rajdamnoen rally site where he greets protesters, meets with the other protest leaders and speaks to the demonstrators in the evening.

His wife Srisakul Promphan and other family members have also adapted their daily routine, going to the Democracy Monument in the evenings to encourage Suthep rather than enjoying dinner together at home.

“Suthep is very serious and dedicated about this fight. He’s prepared to die on the stage,” says a member of the Thaugsuban family.

The former politician is the first to admit that that he has no experience in organising a big gathering. One family member says wryly that the 25 days of his current fight feel longer than his 35 years in the House.

Asked what he considers the worst-case scenario, he shrugs. 

“I may end up in jail or get injured. Either way I don’t care,” he says.

Nor is he afraid of death. “The day I am killed will be the last day the government is in power,” he concludes.

Today is crucial to both the Yingluck government and Suthep. Both sides will be hoping it is not the last.